INDIAN  NOTES 
AND   MONOGRAPHS 

Edited  by  F.  W.  Hodge 


A  SERIES  OF  PUBLICA- 
TIONS RELATING  TO  THE 
AMERICAN     ABORIGINES 


BEOTHUK  AND  MICMAC 


FRANK  G.  SPECK 


NEW  YORK 

MTJSEUM  OF  THE   AMERICAN  INDIAN 

HE\'E  FOUNDATION 

1922 


CALIFORNIA 
SAN  DIE0O 


•^. 


Tms  series  of  Indian  Notes  and  Mono- 
graphs is  devoted  primarily  to  the  publica- 
tion of  the  result  of  studies  by  members  of 
the  staff  of  the  Museum  of  the  American 
Indian,  Heye  Foundation,  and  is  xmiform 
with  Hispanic  Notes  and  Monographs, 
published  by  the  Hispanic  Society  of 
America,  with  which  organization  this 
Museum  is  in  cordial  cooperation. 

Only  the  first  ten  volumes  of  Indian 
Notes  and  Monographs  are  numbered. 
The  unnumbered  parts  may  readily  be  deter- 
mined by  consulting  the  List  of  Publications 
issued  as  one  of  the  series. 


INDIAN  NOTES 
AND  MONOGRAPHS 

Edited  by  F.  W.  Hodge 


A  SERIES  OF  PUBLICA- 
TIONS RELATING  TO  THE 
AMERICAN     ABORIGINES 


BEOTHUK  AND  MICMAC 


FRANK  G.  SPECK 


NEW  YORK 

MUSEUM  OF  THE  AMERIC.VN  INDIAN 

HEYE  FOUNDATION 

1922 


BEOTHUK  AND  MICMAC 


PART  I 

STUDIES  OF  THE  BEOTHUK  AND 
MICMAC  OF  NEWFOUNDLAND 


BY 

FRANK  G.  SPECK 


CONTENTS 

Part  I 

PAGE 

Introduction 12 

Sites  of  Beothuk  occupancy 19 

The  INIicmac  and  the  Red  Indians 25 

How  the  ^Micmac  and  the  Red  Indians 

became  separated 27 

Comparative  ethnological  notes 30 

Table 44 

Folklore  notes  from  the  Nein'foundland  band  46 

The  story  of  Buchan's  expedition 49 

A  meeting  between  a  Red  Indian's  fam- 
ily and  a  Micmac  family 51 

An   encounter  with   Red   Indians   near 

Twillingate 52 

An  encounter  near  Dildo  Arm 52 

Miscellaneous  anecdotes 53 

The  case  of  Santu 55 

The  informant's  history , 58 

Ethnological  notes 60 

-Votes 71 

Part  II 

Introduction 83 

Hunting  territories  in  Nova  Scotia 86 

Table 100 

Hunting  territories  in  Cape  Breton  island. .  106 

Table 110 


INDIAN    NOTES 


BEOTHUK    AND    MICMAC 


PAGE 

Hunting  territories  in  Prince  Edward  island.  1 14 

Table 116 

Hunting  territories  of  the  Micmac-Mon- 

tagnais  of  Newrfoundland 117 

Table 132 

Ancient  place-names  in  Newfoundland 138 

Appendix 141 

I — Cormack's  observations . . .    141 

II — Abstract    of    the    Gluskap    Trans- 
former myth 145 

Gluskap's  journey 146 

Notes 149 

Index 157 


INDIAN    NOTES 


ILLUSTRATIONS 
Part  I 

PAGE 

Pl.         I.  Lookout    tree    at    Red    Indian 

point 12 

II.   View   across   Red    Indian   lake 

from  Red  Indian  point 13 

III.  Red  Indian  point,  Red  Indian 
lake,  showing  "lookout  tree" 
and  beach,  looking  south 18 

IV.  The  same  scene  as  that  shown  in 
plate  in,  looking  toward  Mary 
March  bend  and  point 19 

V.   "Mary  March's  tree"  at  Mary 
March  point,  near  Millertown, 

Newfoundland 22 

VI.  Beothuk  wigwam  pit  at  junc- 
tion of   Badger's  brook    and 

Exploits  river 23 

VII.  Log  wigwam,  camp  of  Frank  Joe 
and  family  near  St  George's 

bay 30 

VIII.  Another  view  of  wigwam  con- 
struction      3i 

IX.  Birch-bark  canoes  used  by  the 
Micmac  of  the  New  Brunswick 
coast,  showing  the  feature  of 
the  elevated  gunwale  centers, 
called  "humpbacks" 32 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


8 

BEOTHUK   AND    MICMAC 

PACE 

Pl,       X.  Canoes  of  the  Badger's  Brook 

band  of  Micmac 33 

XI.  Daughter  of  John  Paul,  Micmac- 

Montagnais  of  Badger's  Brook, 

in  caribou-skin  coat  and  with 

"Red  Indian"  doU 34 

XII.  Daughter  of  John  Paul,  Micmac- 

Montagnais  of  Badger's  Brook, 

in  caribou-skin  coat 35 

XIII.  Daughter  of  John  Paul,  Micmac- 

Montagnais  of  Badger's  Brook, 

in  caribou-skin  coat 36 

XIV.  Man's  coat  of  caribou-skin  with 

the  hair  on  and  with  buttons 

of  caribou-antler '. 37 

XV.  Micmac-Montagnais  woman  at 

Badger's    Brook     in     sealskin. 

capote  with  snowshoes 38 

XVI.  Frank   Joe   and   wife,   Micmac- 

Montagnais     of    St  George's 

settlement,  west  coast  of  New- 

foundland      39 

XVII.  Wife  of  Frank  Joe  wearing  char- 

acteristic head-covering 40 

XVIII.  Boots  and  moccasins  of  the  Bad- 

ger's Brook  band  of  Micmac.     41 

XIX.  Loom    of    the    Badger's    Brook 

band  of  Micmac  for  weaving 

pack-straps,  belts,  etc 42 

XX.  Woven  pack-straps  and  spindle- 

whorl 43 

XXI.  Micmac-Montagnais  at  Badger's 

Brook,    showing    method    of 

using  woven  pack-strap 44 

INDIAN    NOTES 

ILLUSTRATIONS 


Pl.XXII 

XXIII. 

XXIV. 

XXV. 

XXM. 

XXVII. 

XXVIII. 

XXIX. 
XXX. 

XXXI. 
XXXII. 
XXXIII. 


XXXIV. 

XXXV. 

XXXVI. 


PAGE 

Tobacco-pouches  of  the  Badger's 
Brook  band  of  Micmac 45 

Snowshoes  of  the  Badger's  Brook 
band  of  ilicmac 48 

Pick,  awls  and  knives  of  the 
Badger's  Brook  band  of  JNlicmac    49 

Bone  and  antler  implements  of 
the  Badger's  Brook  band  of 
Micmac 50 

Punch,  needles,  and  chisel  of  the 
Badger's  Brook  band  of  JNlic- 
mac       51 

Wooden  netting  implements  of 
the  Badger's  Brook  band  of 
]\Iicmac 52 

Harpoon-heads,  lance-heads,  and 
fish-spear  of  the  Badger's 
Brook  band  of  Micmac 53 

Splint  basketry  of  the  Badger's 
Brook  band  of  JMicmac 54 

Birch-bark  boxes  of  the  Badger's 
Brook  band  of  Micmac 55 

Fetish  objects  of  the  Badger's 
Brook  band  of  Micmac 56 

Micmac  doll  representing  "Red 
Indian"  (Beothuk) 57 

View  of  the  country  formerly  the 
common  property  of  Micmac 
and  Beothuk,  according  to 
tradition 58 

Santu  and  her  son,  Joe  Toney.  .     59 

Santu 60 

Joe  Toney 61 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


10 

BEOTHUK   AND    MICMAC 

PAGE 

Fig.  1.  Le&i  oi  Sarracena  purpurea  (Pitcher 

plant)  used  as  an  improvised  pipe 

by  Newfoundland  Indians 40 

2.  Wooden  dipper  for  molten  lead  in 

making  bullets 42 

Part  II 

Pl.  XXXVII   ]\Iicmac  hunting     camp   in 

Cape  Breton  island 106 

XXXV'III.  ISIicmac    hunting    camp  in 

Cape  Breton  island 107 

XXXIX.  Birch-bark   wigwam  of  the 

Cape  Breton  Micmac 114 

XL.  Birch-bark  wigwam  of     the 

Cape     Breton      Micmac, 

showing  feature     of   hoop 

and  inside   poles 115 

XLI.  Interior  of  wigwam  of  Cape 

Breton  IMicmac,  showing 

size  and  placing  of  poles ....  1 18 

XLII.  Port    aux     Basques,     near 

Cape  Ray,  Newfoundland. 

T>-pical    scenery  ■  of     the 

southwestern  coast 119 

M.^p  I.    Hunting    territories    of   the 

Micmac   Indians   in  Nova 

Scotia Back  Cover 

II.    Hunting    territories  of   the 

Micmac  Indians  in  Prince 

Edward  island  and  New- 

foundland  Back  Cover 

Fig.  3.  Hunting  territory  of  Solomon  Siah, 

Micmac  of  Bear  river,  Nova  Scotia     99 

INDIAN    NOTES 

11 


I.     STUDIES  OF  THE  BEOTHUK 
AND  MICMAC  OF  NEW- 
FOUNDLAND 

By  Frank  G.  Speck 

INTRODUCTION 


THE  mystery  connected  with  the  dis- 
appearance of  the  unfortunate 
Beothuk  or  Red  Indians  of  New- 
foundland has  aroused  a  great  deal 
of  interest  among  historical  investigators. 
The  ethnologist,  however,  has  to  lament 
chiefly  the  fact  that  little  or  nothing  of  the 
language  or  customs  of  the  tribe  had  been 
recorded  before  the  opportunity  had  passed. 
Paucity  of  information  on  the  language  and 
the  necessity  of  having  to  depend  on  several 
very  poor  vocabularies  led  Powell  and 
Gatschet  in  1885  to  classify  the  Beothuk  as 
an  independent  linguistic  stock.  Other 
writers  who  have  dealt  with  the  tribe  have 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


12 


BEOTHUK  AND    MIC MAC 


been  impressed  by  certain  cultural  affinities 
with  both  Eskimo  and  Montagnais.  Conse- 
quently there  is  at  present  considerable  un- 
certainty as  to  the  ethnic  position  of  the 
tribe. 

In  the  summer  of  1914,  during  a  trip  to 
the  eastern  provinces  of  Canada  for  ethno- 
logical research/  I  made  an  extension  of  my 
journey,  I  might  almost  say  a  pilgrimage,  to 
Red  Indian  lake  and  Exploits  river,  the 
country  of  the  Beothuk,  in  the  hope  of  resur- 
recting some  traditional  or  material  traces  of 
their  existence.  As  a  consequence  the  result 
of  my  labor  is  presented  in  this  brief 
paper,  since  in  our  study  of  the  lost  tribe 
we  are  forced  to  make  stock  of  almost  any 
fragments  of  information.  We  should  be 
careful,  I  think,  in  a  case  of  this  kind,  not 
to  overestimate  the  peculiarity  of  the  posi- 
tion of  the  tribe  simply  because  it  became 
extinct  under  rather  tragic  circumstances, 
or  because  so  little  is  known  of  it.  Some 
writers  have  been  inclined  to  do  this.  We 
should  rather  try  to  identify  the  ethnic 
position  of  the  Beothuk  through  the  few 
known  facts  of  their  life,  relying  more  upon 


INDIAN    NOTES 


SPECK — BEOTHUK    AND    MICMAC 


LOOKOUT   TREE   AT    RED    INDIAN    POINT 
Close  view,  showing  trimmed  branches 


12 


2:g 

<  m 


□  I 
ZH 

~u. 
QO 

Ld 

o> 
Jo 

Si 

<o 

-IX 


I 


CO  O 

CO  Si 

OO 


INTRODUCTION 


13 


positive  than  upon  negative  knowledge. 
The  intangible  nature  of  the  few  existing 
vocabularies  confronts  us  with  our  main  dif- 
ficulty; while  a  few  customs,  such  as  the 
extreme  use  of  red  ocher,  the  peculiar  shape 
of  the  canoe,  and  the  wigwam  pits,  features 
indeed  not  entirely  unknown  to  outside 
tribes,  tend  collectively  at  least  to  lend  to 
the  Beothuk  as  an  ethnic  group  a  certain 
aspect  of  local  distinctiveness.  Let  us 
glance  at  the  circumstances. 

The  general  supposition  that  the  Beothuk 
may  be  a  divergent  early  branch  of  the  east- 
ern Algonkian  is  indeed  borne  out  by  some 
fairly  trustworthy  historical,  linguistic,  and 
ethnological  conclusions.  The  archeological 
question  is,  moreover,  correlated  with  that 
of  the  northern  New  England  coast  and  the 
maritime  provinces.  From  the  reports  of 
Willoughby^  and  Moorehcad''  there  is  evi- 
dence of  a  pre-Algonkian  culture  in  Maine. 
It  has  also  been  represented  that  this  cul- 
ture, owing  to  certain  traits,  such  as  the 
abundant  use  of  red  ocher  in  burials,  the 
absence  of  many  types  of  stone  implements, 
and  the  frequent  occurrence  of  long  slate 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


14 

BEOTHUK   AND    MICMAC 

lance-heads  and  of  chisels/  may  have  been 
culture  of  a  type   related   to   that   of   the 
Beothuk.     While  the  principle  of  identify- 
ing one  type  of  culture  with  another  on  the 
basis  of  a  few  resemblances  is,  of  course, 
non-commendable,    nevertheless    the    fact 
that  we  possess    no    strikingly    conflicting 
material  from  either  of  these  little-known 
ancient  areas  gives  some   extra   weight    to 
the  few  resemblances  that  may  be  men- 
tioned.   At  present  evidence  seems  to  be 
accumulating  in  favor  of  the  idea  that  a 
type  of  culture  older  and  cruder  than  that 
of  the  historic  Algonkian  prevailed  in  the 
eastern  maritime  provinces  and  in  northern 
New    England.     So    by    coordinating    the 
remainders  it  might  seem  that  the  Beothuk 
were  the  last  isolated  outposts  of  this  culture 
in    the   matter   of   both    time   and   space. 
Then,  if  we  accept  the  evidence  of  Beothuk 
resemblances  to  Algonkian  as  indicating  a 
genetic  relationship,  we  should  have  to  as- 
sume that  the  early  culture  type  belonged 
to  a  primitive  Algonkian  group  antedating 
the    later   Algonkian    occupants.     Certain 
uniformities,  one  of  which  is  simplicity  of 

INDIAN    NOTES 

INTRODUCTION 

15 

type  in  archeological  material  throughout 
the  whole  area,  seem  to  lead  to  some  such 
idea.     Since  a  further  fundamental  simplic- 
ity in  social,  ceremonial,  and  economic  life  is 
a  fairly  uniform  characteristic  of  the  north- 
eastern Algonkian  in  general,  I  am  inclined 
to  beheve  that  the  historic  tribes  of  the 
northeast  are  the  surviving  representatives 
of  the  early  unaffected  Algonkian  types  of 
which  the  isolated  Beothuk  of  Newfound- 
land  were    the    last    true    representatives. 
Unfortunately   Mr  Howley,   in  his  recent 
monograph  on  the  Beothuk,^  does  not  seem 
to  define  clearly  the  reasons  for  his  own 
stand  on  the  question  of  ethnic  affinity,  not- 
withstanding the  fact  that  he  is  at  present 
perhaps  more  intimately  conversant  with 
the  internal  probabilities  of  the  case  than 
anyone  else.** 

The  fame  of  the  Beothuk  seems  to  have 
reached  regions  quite  distant  from  New- 
foundland in  Indian  times.     As  far  west  as 
the  Penobscot  of  Maine,  a  tribe  of  "Red 
Indians,"  who  are  said  to  have  dyed  their 
skins    red,    is    known    by    tradition    as 
Osagane'wi'ak.''     Some    informants    apply 

AND    MONOGRAPHS 

16 


B  E  O  T  H  U  K   A  N  D    M  I  C  M  A  C 


this  name  to  the  Montagnais  of  southern 
Labrador,  while  others  employ  it  to  desig- 
nate a  people  farther  to  the  east,  which 
makes  it  possible  that  they  refer  to  a  people 
in  Newfoundland. 

Again,  the  Malecite  of  New  Brunswick 
employ  the  cognate  term  Us'a'gan'ik  to  de- 
note the  Montagnais  and  the  other  tribes  to 
the  north  and  east.  This  term  is  evidently 
derived  directly  from  the  IVIicmac  term 
Osa'yan'ax,  which  likewise  denotes  the  tribes 
north  of  the  St  Lawrence  as  well  as  the  tribe 
of  Newfoundland.  I  have  found  inform- 
ants to  vary  on  this  term,  some  applying  it 
to  the  Montagnais  exclusively  and  others 
to  the  Red  Indians  of  Newfoundland  when 
they  knew  something  of  the  latter.  We 
may  remark,  however,  that  a  certain  stand- 
ard usage  among  the  Micmac,  INIalecite,  and 
Penobscot  applies  this  term  to  a  people  who 
may  be  putatively  identified  with  the  Beo- 
thuk.  In  addition,  this  is  the  name  of  the 
Beothuk  as  given  by  a  supposed  descendant 
of  the  tribe,  born  in  Newfoundland,  whose 
testimony  will  be  discussed  later.  ^ 

More  definite  knowledge  of  the  Beothuk, 


INDIAN    NOTES 


INTRODUCTION 

17 

or  at  least  those  whom  we  may  presume  to 
be  the  same,  is  shared  by  the  Malecite.     Un- 
der the  name  of  Mekwe'isit,  "red  man," 
there  are  several  myths  and  a  description 
of  "a  tribe  of  Indians  who  were  red.     Each 
of  these  red  men  was  known  by  the  name  of 
Mekwe'isit.    Whenever  any  of   the  other 
Indians  came  near,  these  natives  would  run 
away.     .      .      .      Their  dress   was   unlike 
that  of  other  tribes.     They  wore  a  loin  cloth 
and  leggings  and  moccasins  of  a    peculiar 
cut.     They  did  not  wear  any  covering  for 
the  rest   of   the   body,   but   instead   they 
painted    it    a  deep    red."^    Mechling,   in 
commenting  on  these  stories,  says:     "The 
explanation   of   the   Red   People  suggests 
at    once    the   Beothuks.     There    is    little 
doubt  that  they  were  known  to  the  Malecites 
by  hearsay  at  least.     The  statements  in  re- 
gard to  their  dress  and  painting  seem  to 
have  some  basis  in  fact."^°    Howley  also 
gives   information   from   the   Malecite  ob- 
tained through  Mr  E.  Jack,  pertaining  to 
the  Beothuk.'^ 

Nearer  to  the  scene,  the  Micmac  in  gen- 
eral are  better  acquainted  with  the  former 

♦ 

AND    MONOGRAPHS 

18 

BEOTHUK   AND    MICMAC 

• 

Red  Indians  of  Newfoundland,  who  natu- 
rally have  a  promment  place  in  their  local 
legends.  Their  name  for  the  Beothuk  is 
Meywe'dji'djik,^^  "red  people"  (diminu- 
tive), and,  as  I  have  said  before,  the  tribal 
term  Osa'yan'ax  is  appUed  by  some  both  to 
the  Montagnais  and  to  the  Beothuk  by  the 
present-day  Newfoundland  Indians. 

Among  the  Montagnais,  on  the  other 
hand,  I  have  had  very  poor  success  in  ob- 
.taining  references  to  the  Beothuk.  As  far 
down  the  St  Lawrence  as  the  Moisie  river 
the  Montagnais  seem  ignorant  of  the  New- 
foundland tribe's  existence.  Farther  east, 
nearer  the  Straits  of  Belle  Isle,  perhaps  the 
few  Montagnais  there  would  know  some- 
thing of  them,  but  I  have  not  as  yet  visited 
them  to  determine  the  point. 

The  expectation  that  the  present  Micmac 
inhabitants  of  Newfoundland  might  have  a 
more  extended  knowledge  of  the  supposedly 
extinct  tribe,  an  expectation  most  natural 
to  the  ethnologist,  led  me  to  undertake  the 
investigation  of  material  culture  while  in 
Newfoundland,  the  results  of  which  form 
the  basis  of  this  paper.    The  ethnological 

INDIAN    NOTES 

<  — 


BEOTHUK   SITES 

19 

collection  figured  in  my  study  is  now  in  the 
Victoria  INIuseum,  Ottawa,  and  the  manu- 
script was  prepared  originally  for  the  An- 
thropological Survey  of  Canada.     Thanks 
are  due  to  the  Director  and  to  Dr.  Edward 
Sapir  for  the  photographs  of  the  collection 
and  for  permission  to  use  the  material. 

SITES  OF  BEOTHUK  OCCUPANCY 

In  the  neighborhood  of  Red  Indian  lake 
and  the  River  of  Exploits  the  signs  of  Beo- 
thuk  occupancy  are  both  numerous  and  well 
preserved.     Several  authors^^  have  written 
of  the  caribou  "fences"  which  were  con- 
structed to  force  the  caribou  to  cross  a  river 
or  a  lake  at  certain  places  accessible  to  the 
natives,   where   they   could   be   shot   and 
speared.^*    Recent  forest  fires  have  oblit- 
erated these  so-called  "fences,"  but  in  a 
few  places  near  the  shore,  where,  on  account 
of  the  moisture,  the  fires  have  not  burned 
to  the  water's  edge,  some  few  miles  below 
the  new  dam  on  Exploits  river  at  its  junction 
with  Red  Indian  lake,  are  to  be  seen  the 
trunks  of  trees  felled  to  form  a  line  barrier 

AND    MONOGRAPHS 

20 

BEOTHUK   AND    MICMAC 

leading  obliquely  from  the  water's  edge  to 
the  wooded  bank.     This  rough  abattis,  as 
it  were,  is  said  to  have  extended  for  some 
miles  along  the  river  before  the  era  of  fires 
which   wrought   so   much   havoc   with   the 
forests  of  the  interior.     So  well  known  are 
the  sites  of  these  fences  in   the  Exploits 
River  region   that  any  Micmac  guide  at 
Badger's  Brook  can  lead  to  the  places  where 
remains  may  still  be  seen.     At  one  spot  in 
particular,  a  mile  above  Red  Indian  falls  on 
Exploits  river,  a  "fence"  running  to  the 
water's  edge  is  discernible.     It  is  formed  of 
cross-pieces  as  high  as  one's  head,  with  hori- 
zontal  tree-trunks   felled   to   fall   into   the 
crotches  here  and  there.    The  continuation 
of  this  "fence"  has  been  burnt  away  upon 
the  upland,  but  it  is  still  partly  intact  along 
shore. 

During  the  short  time  at  my  disposal,  1 
was  able  to  find  without  difficulty  several 
interesting  camp-sites  where  even  the  form 
of  the  wigwam-sites  was  preserved  and  some 
of  the  litter  of  the  hunter's  camp  lay  round 
about  near  the  surface.    One  of  the  note- 
worthy features  of  the  Red  Indian  sites  is 

INDIAN    NOTES 

BEOTHUK    SITES 


21 


the  excavation  of  the  ground  where  the 
wig\\-ams  stood.  Either  circular  or  some- 
what quadrilateral  in  form,  these  pits  now 
generally  appear  excavated  about  a  foot. 
They  were  undoubtedly  deeper  when  made. 
In  the  center  of  the  wigwam-holes  is  the 
location  of  the  fireplace,  as  indicated  by  the 
charred  soil  and  fire-cracked  stones.  Dig- 
ging over  the  soil  around  the  fireplaces  one 
uncovers  remains  of  implements.  Chert 
and  flint  chips  occur,  showing  stone-age 
industry.  Interspersed  with  them  were 
found  metal  fragments — pieces  of  metal 
bands,  old  wrought  nails,  small  nondescript 
iron  scraps,  and,  in  one  place,  a  perfect  iron 
awl  blade.  Quantities  of  animal  bones  and 
pieces  of  caribou  antler  also  occur,  indicating 
the  food  habits  of  the  natives.  Referring  to 
the  material,  we  find  a  tradition  among 
the  Micmac-Montagnais  of  the  island  which 
relates  how  the  Red  Indians  used  to  make 
forays  on  fishermen's  settlements  and  even 
robbed  schooners  to  obtain  metal  for  tool 
making.^"  The  Micmac  say  that  they  fre- 
quently dig  in  these  Red  Indian  wig^vam- 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


22 

BEOTHUK   AND    MICMAC 

pits  and   find   curious  iron   implements — 
knives,  axes,  traps,  and  the  like. 

At  Red  Indian  point,  several  miles  south 
of  Millertown  at  the  point  of  land  near 
where  Mary  March  brook  flows  into  the 
lake,  is  a  notable  site,  said  by  the  Micmac- 
Montagnais  to  have  been  the  headquarters 
of  the  Red  Indians  a  hundred  years  or  so 
ago.    Directly  at  the  point  here  are  a  num- 
ber of  wigwam-pits,  at  least  seven,  although 
it  was  rather  hard  to  discern  them  all  at 
the  time  of  my  visit  on  account  of  the  logs 
that  had  drifted  in  and  filled  the  pits  at 
high  water.    One  of  these,  rectangular  in 
shape  and  about  30   feet    in   its   greater 
diameter,  is  said  to  have  been  the  location 
of  the  wigwam  of  a  chief.    The  other  pits 
are  at   several    yards'    distance,    grouped 
around  this  one.    They  have  an  average 
depth  of  about  2  feet,  and  their  large  size 
indicates  the  place  formerly  to  have  been  a 
large  and  probably  more  or  less  regular  set- 
tlement.   In  and  around  these  pits  I  gath- 
ered a  quantity  of  cracked  bones  and  pieces 
of    antler.     Much    material    undoubtedly 
could  be  obtained  here  by  excavation.    The 

INDIAN    NOTES 

^ 


;3s 


i. 


CO  E 


BEOTHUK    SITES 

23 

most  interesting  feature  of  this  site,   how- 
ever, is  a  large  white  spruce  tree    which 
stands  intact  at  the  extremity  of  the  point. 
This  tree  has  its  smaller  branches  trimmed 
out,  and  the  lower  branches  are  lopped  ofiF 
a  foot  or  so  from  the  trunk  to  form  a  means 
of  ascent  to  its  airy  heights.     The  trimming 
extends,  I  should  say,  at  least  30  or  40  feet 
from  the  ground,  and  enables  an  observer 
to  mount   conveniently   the  full  distance. 
This  tree  was  a  lookout  post.     When  the 
camp  was  occupied  a  lookout  was  stationed 
in  it  to  watch  for  caribou  swimming  across 
the  lake,  or,  we  might  well  imagine,  for  the 
approach  of  enemies.    This  remarkable  tree 
is  still  in  perfect  condition  and  forms  a 
landmark  that  seems  to  have  appealed  to 
the  sentiment  of  the  lumbermen,  so  it  will 
probably    remain.     Photographs    of    this 
site,  and  several  views  of  the  lookout  tree, 
one  taken  from  its  height  where  I  climbed  to 
experience  the  sensation  of  observing  these 
wastes  from  the  vantage  point  of  the  an- 
cients,  are  shown  in  pi.    i-v.      One  fact 
further  should  be  noted,  that  in  the  last 
century  the  point  was  occupied  by  Micmac 

AND    MONOGRAPHS 

24 

BEOTHUK   AND    MICMAC 

' 

who  availed  themselves  from  time  to  time 
of  its  ideal  situation.     John  Paul  said  that 
he  knew  of  several  old  people  who  were 
born  while   their  families  were   encamped 
there.     Among  them  he  mentioned  it  as  his 
understanding  that  Santu,  the  woman  whose 
claim  of  Beothuk  descent  is  to  be  considered 
later,  was  also  born  there. 

At  many  points  on  Exploits  river,  the 
wigwam-pits  are  numerous.     Near  the  junc- 
tion of  Badger's  brook  and  Exploits  river, 
the  only  other  place  where  I  had  an  oppor- 
tunity to  examine  the  shores,  about  a  dozen 
wigwam-pits  may  still  be  seen  ranging  along 
the  northern   bank  on   the   terrace   above 
the  beach.     On  some  of   these  pits,   fair- 
sized  spruce  trees  have  grown  up.     The  pits 
are  situated  at  a  distance  ranging  from  about 
100  feet  to  100  yards  from  each  other  (pi. 
vi).     In  some  of  these,  where   I  excavated 
the  fireplace  and  floor  space,  fragments  of 
iron  tools,  stone  chips  and  flakes,  and  stone 
hammers  or  bone-crackers,   and   a  perfect 
bone  implement  for  removing  the  hair  from 
caribou  skins,  were  found.     The  latter,  a 
caribou  leg-bone,  is  of  the  same  type  as  is 

INDIAN    NOTES 

MICMAC   KNOWLEDGE 

25 

commonly  found  among  the  Montagnais, 
Micmac,  and  other  eastern  tribes.     (See  pi. 
XXV,  a,  b).     So  much  for  the  archeological 
remains  of  which  I  am  able  to  speak  from 
personal  observation.     The  Micmac  of  the 
region,  however,  speak,  of  many  of  these  old 
camp-sites.     Some  systematic  excavation  in 
the  region  would  prove  very  profitable. 

THE  MICMAC  AND  THE    RED   INDIANS 

Our  most  important  extant  sources  of  in- 
formation about  the  Beothuk  are  undoubt- 
edly the  Micmac-Montagnais  who  still  in- 
habit the  southern  and  western  coasts  of 
Newfoundland  and   parts  of  the  interior. 
The  present  Indian  inhabitants,  whose  lan- 
guage is  Micmac,  are  the  mixed  offspring 
of  Montagnais  hunters  from  Labrador  and 
]\Iicmac  from  Cape  Breton  island.     Immi- 
gration from  both  these  neighboring  regions 
must    have    commenced    at    least    several 
centuries  ago,  because  our  records  from  the 
early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century  show 
both  the  Micmac  and   the   Montagnais  to 
have  been  firmly  established  in  Newfound- 
land at  that  time.     As  the  historical  facts 

AND    MONOGRAPHS 

26 

BEOTHUK   AND    MICMAC 

concerned  with  these  migrations  are  quite 
interesting,  a  brief  account  of  them  will  be 
given  to  introduce  the  people  we  are  to  dis- 
cuss as  the  successors,  I   believe   in  more 
than  one  sense,  of  the  Beothuk.^^ 

The  Micmac  claim  to  have  had  some 
knowledge  of  Newfoundland  from  remote 
times.     They  speak  of  a  branch  of  their 
people    called  Sa'ydwe'djki'k,   "ancients," 
who  lived  on  the  southern  and  western  coasts 
before  the  eighteenth  century,  and  to  cor- 
roborate this  they  give  an  old  nomenclature 
of  landmarks  in  various  parts  of  the  island 
in    Micmac.     Communication   with    New- 
foundland in  early  times  was  carried  on  by 
means  of  canoes.    The  distance,  about  93 
miles,  between  Cape  North  (of  Cape  Bre- 
ton) and  Cape  Ray  was  covered  in  two 
stages,  the  first  stop  having  been  St  Paul's 
island,   14  miles  from  Cape  North.     The 
traverse  thence  was  made  at  night  generally, 
when  it  was  calmer,  guided  by  a  beacon  fire 
kindled  on  the  high  barrens  of  Cape  Ray  by 
a  crew  of  experienced  men  who  went  on 
rapidly  ahead  of  the  main  body.    In  later 
times  the  Micmac  added  to  the  faciUty  of 

INDIAN    NOTES 

M  I  C  :M  A  C    KNOWLEDGE 

27 

communication  by  using  schooners.  Their 
first  settlements  were  about  St  George's 
bay,  at  Burgeo  on  the  south  coast,  and  at 
Conne  river. 

In  the  St  George's  Bay  region  it  is  a  matter 
of  general  knowledge,  among  the  older  mem- 
bers of  the  Newfoundland  band,  that  their 
ancestors  lived  in  amicable  contact  with  the 
Beothuk,  whom  they  designate  Meywe'djik, 
"red  people."  This  period  of  friendly  rela- 
tionship interests  us  now  because  during 
that  time  we  may  surmise  some  culture  bor- 
rowing and  blood  intermixture  to  have  taken 
place. 

The  following  legend  narrated  by  John 
Paul  accounts  for  the  rupture  between  the 
two  tribes. 

How  the  Micmac  and  the  Red  Indians 

Became  Separated 

(Narrated  by  John  Paul  at  Badger's  Brook) 

"Long  ago  the  Micmac  and  the  Red  Indians 
were  friendly  and  lived  together  in  a  village  at 
St  George's  bay,  which  is  now  supposed  to  have 
been  near  Seal  rocks  [near  StevensvilleJ.     The 
place  was  called  Meski'gtu'a.>i''d3n,  'big  gut,'  or 
it  might  have  been  Nudjo'yan,  inside  Sandy 

AND    MONOGRAPHS 

28 


BEOTHUK   AND    MICMAC 


point  in  the  bay.  The  St  George's  river  was 
at  that  time  called  Main  river  bv  the  English. 
Everything  went  well  between  the  two  tribes. 
They  used  to  have  a  large  canoe  at  the  village  in 
which  the  people  could  cross  over  the  bay.  One 
time  during  the  winter  a  Micmac  boy  killed  a 
black  weasel.  As  it  was  winter-time  the 
weasel  should,  of  course,  have  been  white.  The 
occurrence  was  taken  as  an  omen  of  misfortune,^' 
because  the  boy  should  not  have  killed  a  black 
weasel  in  winter-time,  the  animal  not  being  in 
its  proper  hue.  On  account  of  the  violation  of 
the  taboo  a  quarrel  arose  between  the  boys  who 
were  at  the  time  gathered  near  the  big  canoe 
already  mentioned.  The  Micmac  boy  struck 
and  killed  a  Red  Indian  boy  and  left  him  there. 
Soon  the  Red  Indian  boy  was  missed  by  his 
people,  and  after  searching  for  several  days 
they  found  his  body  lying  near  the  big  canoe. 
When  they  examined  the  wounds  the  Red 
Indians  concluded  that  the  boy  had  been  mur- 
dered. They  accused  the  Micmac  of  doing  the 
deed,  and  in  a  few  days  feeling  became  so 
intense  that  a  fight  ensued  in  which  the  Red 
Indians  were  beaten  and  driven  out.  They 
retreated  into  the  interior  and,  being  separated 
from  contact  with  the  outside  world,  drifted  into 
barbarism  and  became  wilder.  They  always 
shunned  the  IMicmac,  who  soon  after  obtained 
firearms  and,  although  the}'  never  persecuted 
the  Red  Indians,  were  thenceforth  objects  of 
terror  to  them.  In  a  few  generations  those  of 
the  two  tribes  who  were  able  to  converse  to- 
gether died  out  and  there  was  no  way  left  for 
them  to  come  together.     So  living  in  fear  of 


INDIAN    NOTES 


MICMAC   KNOWLEDGE 


29 


each  other,  yet  avoiding  clashes,  the  Micmac 
continued  to  live  at  Bay  St  George  and  the 
Red  Indians  kept  to  the  interior." 

We  can  hardly  give  serious  historical  con- 
sideration to  the  details  of  this  story.  It 
bears  the  marks  of  being  a  secondary  expla- 
nation of  some  historical  event,  especially 
since  the  same  general  theme  among  the 
Micmac,  and  even  among  other  Wabanaki 
tribes  of  the  mainland,  accounts  for  the  hos- 
tility of  the  Iroquois.^ ^  The  motive  of  the 
legend,  nevertheless,  is  clear  enough,  for  it 
indicates  that  the  Micmac  and  the  Red  Indi- 
ans were  undoubtedly  on  friendly  terms 
originally  and  that  they  intermingled.^® 

Accepting  this  assumption  as  being  trust- 
worthy, let  us  consider  other  claims,  as 
well  as  some  features  of  material  culture. 
Such  a  study  of  the  ethnology  of  the  New- 
foundland Indians  (whom  I  have  chosen  to 
call  Micmac-Montagnais  on  account  of  their 
mixed  descent),  as  I  was  able  to  make  it  in 
the  early  summer  of  1914,  showed  some  few 
articles  of  use  characteristic  neither  of  the 
Micmac  of  the  mainland  nor  of  the  Montag- 
nais.     By  eliminating  what  we  can  safely 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


30 

BEOTHUK  AND    MICMAC 

attribute  to  either  of  the  above  sources,  the 
residual  material  may  possibly  deserve  to  be 
classed  as  the  result  of  borrowing  through 
contact  with  the  Beothuk.    If  one  is  in- 
clined to  object  strenuously  to  such  a  claim, 
let  us  recall  the  fact  that  many  of  the  Mic- 
mac  families  among  the  present-day  natives 
of  Newfoundland  are  of  Montagnais  de- 
scent.   If  one  attempts  to  deny  categorically 
that  culture  survivals  from  the  Beothuk  are 
not  to  be  traced  through  the  Micmac,  on 
account  of  former  hostility,  then  it  cannot 
be  denied  on  the  same  ground  that  influence 
could  have  come  down  through  the  Mon- 
tagnais strain  in  the   present   population, 
whose  ancestors  were  known  to  be  friendly 
with  the  Beothuk. 

COMPARATIVE   ETHNOLOGICAL   NOTES 

One  of  the  distinctive  features  of  economic 
life  listed  for  the  Beothuk  is  a  marked  pe- 
culiarity in  the  construction  of  thebirch-bark 
wigwam.    The  excavation  of  a  pit  a  foot  or 
so  below  the  level  of  the  ground  seems  to 
have  been  a  general  feature  of  the  Beothuk 
wigwam.    This  contrasts  with  the  Micmac 

INDIAN   NOTES 

i,  f^m0' 


HABITATION 

31 

and    Montagnais   wigwam,    because    these 
tribes  generally  erect  the  wigwam  upon  flat 
ground.    On  the  Penobscot  river  in  Maine, 
nevertheless,  such  wigwam-pits,  both  rec- 
tangular and  circular  in  outline,  may  be 
seen  on  Indian  island.    In  other  respects, 
however,  the  wigwams  of  the  Beothuk  and 
the  eastern  Algonkian  seem  to  correspond 
even  in  such  details  as  the  hoop  encircling 
the  inside  of  the  framework  of  poles.^"    The 
hoop  varies  somewhat  in  size  according  to 
the  height  at  which  it  is  placed.     Generally 
it  is  lashed  to  the  wigwam  poles  about  six 
feet  from  the  ground  and  lends  much  to  the 
support  of  the  poles  when  the  wigwam  is 
burdened  with  snow.     Sticks  are  placed  on 
the  hoop,  upon  which  clothing   and    moc- 
casins may  be  hung  to  be  dried.     Even  the 
cooking  utensils  are  suspended  over  the  fire 
from  the  cross-sticks.    All  is  shown  in  pi.  XL. 
The  hoop  as  a  structural  feature,  is  used, 
we  know,  westward  as  far  as  the  Montagnais 
and  the  Penobscot  of  Maine ;^^    but  it    is 
absent    from    the    wigwam   and  tipi   con- 
struction of  the  Great  Lakes  area  and  the 
plains.    Even  the  rectangular  based  winter 

AND    MONOGRAPHS 

32 

BEOTHUK   AND    MICMAC 

wigwams  of  the  Beothuk,  built  of  logs  chink- 
ed with  moss  and  with  a  pyramidal  bark 
superstructure,   find   their   parallel    among 
the  tribes  of  the  Wabanaki  group.    An  ex- 
ample of  the  present-day  Newfoundland  In- 
dian log  camp  is  shown  in  pi.  vn-viii.    An 
anonymous  author  in    the    London   Times 
(1820)  mentions  the  upright  posts  in  con- 
struction (cf.  Howley,  p.  100).    This  camp 
is  built  partly  on  the  same  principle — a  clear 
survival.     So  after  all,  in  the  rather  fun- 
damental matter  of  architecture  the   Beo- 
thuk do  not  exhibit  a  great  divergence  from 
the  surrounding  Algonkian. 

In  canoe-building  we  find  another  impor- 
tant subject  for  comparative  mention.    The 
bark    canoe    of    the    Beothuk    type    has 
been  described  by  several  authors.^^    The 
pointed  keel  and  the  elevated  middle  section 
of  the  gunwales  are  the  two  distinguishing 
features  of  the  craft.    The  pointed  keel  is 
unique  among  eastern  canoe  types,  but  the 
same  cannot  be  said  of  the  elevated  gunwale 
middle,  for  a  modified  form  of  the   same 
thing,  with  the  same  separating  thwart,  is 
prominent  not  only  in  the  Micmac  canoes 

INDIAN    NOTES 

if!  CD 

<a. 
OS 


5° 


gw  b; 


Q_J    M 

S    >^ 

iol 

>'^ 
CQ  uj 


o  Si 


z  i 


CANOES 

33 

of  Newfoundland  (pi.  ix,  b),  which  might 
be  expected  to  show  the  feature,  but  through- 
out the  Micmac  range  as  far  as  southern 
Nova  Scotia,  according  to  my  own  observa- 
tion (pi.  ix).     Farther  west  than  the  Mic- 
mac, however,  this  feature  does  not  extend 
nor  do  the  Montagnais  produce  it.     Ordi- 
narily,   however,  the  present-day  Micmac- 
Montagnais  of  Newfoundland  make  and  use 
the  moose-skin  canoe    (mu'sawulk,   "moose 
boat")  in  preference  to  the  bark  one.    They 
claim  that  it  is  more  convenient  on  the  port- 
ages and  more  quickly  made.     From  two  to 
four  skins  are  used  in  its  construction,  which 
is  quite  simple.     A  model  is  shown  in  pi. 
X,  a.     In  this  trait  the  Newfoundland  In- 
dians agree  with  the  other  tribes  of  the  Wa- 
banaki  group,  as  well  as  with   the  Mon- 
tagnais, who  all  have  recourse  at  times  to 
moose-hide  craft.     We  do  not  hear  of  the 
hide  canoe  among  the  Beothuk  from  any  of 
the  old  accounts  with  the  exception  of  one, 
Cormack's,'^    although  of  course  the    fun- 
damental  idea   is   Eskimo   as   well  as  Al- 
gonkian. 

In  the  matter  of  dress,  some  articles  are 

• 

AND    MONOGRAPHS 

34 


BEOTHUK    AND    MI CM AC 


characteristic  of  the  Newfoundland  Indians 
of  toda}'  which  are  common  to  both  Mon- 
tagnais  and  Micmac,  while  others  are  sug- 
gestive of  Red  Indian  culture.  The  caribou- 
skin  capote  {qali'bua'zi,  "caribou  cover- 
ing") with  hood  attached  (pi.  xi-xiv),  and 
the-  sealskin  coats  (pi.  xv)  of  the  same 
type,  are  of  course  in  the  former  class.  Al- 
though I  was  able  to  procure  only  a  plain 
specimen  of  the  caribou-skin  coat,  I 'learned 
from  John  Paul'  (see  p.  78,  note  45)  of 
decorations  which  formerly  were  more  com- 
mon. Tanned  with  the  hair  off,  these 
coats  had  figures  of  animals  painted  on  the 
back,  and  a  band  of  checkerwork  in  red 
and  black  around  the  waist.  This  compares 
more  with  what  we  know  of  Montagnais 
decoration,  although  the  same  type  of  coat 
had  a  wide  distribution  throughout  the 
Wabanaki  area.  Of  the  pigments,  red  and 
brown  were  from  alder  bark,  yellow  from 
"yellow  thread"  (golden  ihxc&d,  Coptis  iri- 
folia),^'^  and  blue  and  black  from  blueber- 
ries. When  the  hair  was  left  on  these  coats 
they  were  seldom  painted,  except  as  in  the 
case  of  the  one  figured,  which  has  red  ocher 


INDIAN    NOTES 


SPECK — BEOTHUK    ANDMICMAC 


DAUGHTER    OF    JOHN     PAUL.     M  IC  MAC- MONT  AGNAI S    OF 

BADGERS    BROOK.    IN    CARIBOU-SKIN    COAT    AND 

WITH   "RED    INDIAN"    DOLL 


SPECK — BEOTHUK    AND    MICMAC 


\ 


m"^ 


-?*j^ 


DAUGHTER    OF    JOHN     PAUL,     M  I  0  M  AC- MONTAGN  Al  S    OF 
BADGERS     BROOK.     IN     CARIBOU-SKIN     COAT 


DRESS 

35 

smeared  over  the  seams  on  the  inside. 
Children's  coats  were  made  from  the  skin 
of  a  caribou  calf,  with  the  eye-holes  and 
ears  left  in  place  on  the  head,  which  fitted 
over  the  head  of  the  child  to  form  the  hood. 
This  is  distinctly  like  the  coats  worn  by 
children  of  the  ]\Iontagnais  of  Labrador. 
Trousers  of  tanned  caribou-skin  reaching 
almost  to  the  knee,  as  an  article  of  clothing 
correspond  also  to  the  early  dress  of  the 
Montagnais. 

The  women  wore  peaked  caps  {kdn'i''- 
skwe'ic,  "pointed  top"),  descriptions  of  which 
serve  to  show  that  they  were  more  like  those 
of  the  other  Micmac,  though  of  course  a 
similar  article  is  worn  by  nearly  every  Mon- 
tagnais woman.  The  women  also  wrapped 
their  hair  over  two  small  wooden  blocks  over 
the  ears,  also  after  the  fashion  of  the  Mon- 
tagnais. Neither  of  these  fashions,  how- 
ever, is  to  be  seen  nowadays  (pi.  x\-i-x\ai). 

When  we  come  to  consider  boots  and 
moccasins  {mki'zi'n),  we  encounter  articles 
which  evidently  suggest  Beothuk  influence. 
The  low  moccasin  of  caribou-skin  has  the 
forepart  finely  puckered  like  that  of  the 

AND    MONOGRAPHS 

36 

BEOTHUK   AND    MIC MAC 

Montagnais  (pi.  xviii,  a,  b).     More  char- 
acteristic of  these  Indians,  however,  is  the 
boot-moccasin  {mu' ksati)  ,^^  the  pattern  of 
which  is  the  same  as  that  of  Eskimo  boots 
and  those  of  the  Montagnais  of  the  coast. 
With  feet  made  of  sealskin  and  the  upper 
parts  of  either  seal-  or  caribou-skin,  heavily 
greased,  the  article  is  suggestively  Eskimo- 
like.    Frequently  the  top  of  the  boot  is  rein- 
forced with   a   strip  of   caribou-skin   with 
the  fur  on  (pi.  xviii,  c-e).     The  distinctive 
feature  of  both  the  moccasin  and  the  boots, 
however,  is  the  red  stain  which  they  receive 
at  the  hands  of  their  makers  before  being 
considered    complete.     Discussion    of    this 
peculiarity    with    the   Indians    themselves 
brought  to  light  the  fact  that  they  attribute 
the  custom  of  dyeing  these  articles  red  to 
former    contact    with    the    Red    Indians. 
Since  the  feature  seems  to  be  restricted  to 
those  people,  I  see  little  reason  to  doubt  the 
likelihood   of   the   connection.     Practically 
every  pair  of  moccasins  I  observed  worn  by 
them    was    dyed    red,    whether   made   of 
caribou-skin  or  of  seal-skin.     To  obtain  the 
red  color  they  soak  the  hide  in  water  im- 

INDIAN    NOTES 

SPECK — BEOTHUK    AND    MICMAC 


DAUGHTER    OF    JOHN     PAUL,     M  I  CM  AC-MONTAGN  AIS    OF 
BADGERS    BROOK.     IN     CARIBOU-SKIN     COAT 


SPECK — BEOTHUK  AND  MICMAC 


MAN'S    COAT    OF    CARIBOU-SKIN    WITH    THE    HAIR    ON    AND 

WITH    BUTTONS   OF   CARIBOU-ANTLER:   USED   IN    WINTER 

BY   THE    BADGER'S   BROOK  BAND   OF   MICMAC 


W  E  A  V  I  N  G 

37 

pregnated  with  spruce,  pine,  or  alder  bark, 
during  the  process  of  tanning  ^"^ 

For  a  people  with  rather  crude  industries, 
it  seems  unusual  to  find  them  practising 
weaving.    Upon  a  loom  {eldaxte  'gan , ' '  weav- 
ing instrument"^^)  made  of  wood  with  from 
20  to  30  holes  in  the  bars  between  the  ver- 
tical apertures  (pi.  xix),  the  women  weave 
pack-straps       {u.'i'sxo''buxsan',      "carrying 
strap"),  shown  in  pi. xx, a,  ft; xxi  (compare,  in 
the   Cape  Breton  dialect  of   Micmac,   Ijk' 
xada'u)  belts  and   garters.-*     The    material 
employed  in  weaving,  before  sheep  wool  came 
into  use,  was  caribou  wool.    To  obtain  the 
wool  it  was  combed  from  the  hide,  three- 
fourths  of  a  pound  usualty  coming  from  one 
skin.     Bear,  beaver,  otter,  and  hare  skins, 
they  say,  also  furnished  wool  of  an  inferior 
sort.     When  combed  and  stretched  the  wool 
was  spun  on  a  wooden  spindle   {mi'man- 
Ja'Ton',"  spinning instrument"^^),  which  was 
twirled  with  the  fingers  (pi.  xx,  c),  the  point 
restingonaboard.     When  the  woolen  strands 
are  ready  to  be  woven,   they  are  passed 
alternately   through   the  holes  and  slits  of 
the  loom.     One  end  of  the  group  of  gathered 

AND    MONOGRAPHS 

38 

1 
BEOTHUK   AND    MICMAC 

strands  is  tied  to  a  post,  or  something 
equally  convenient  in  the  house,  and  the 
other  end  attached  to  the  belt  of  the  woman 
who  is  to  do  the  weaving.  Thus  the  loom 
is  near  the  body  of  the  weaver.  By  lean- 
ing backward  then  the  weaver  can  make 
the  cords  as  tight  as  she  desires.  Without 
shuttle  or  bar  the  weaver  then  passes  the 
ball  of  3'arn  with  one  hand  between  the 
alternate  strands,  separated  vertically  when 
the  loom  is  raised  with  the  other  hand, 
and  then  back  again  when  the  loom  is  lowered. 
This  produces  an  over-one  under-one  mesh, 
and  the  pattern  is  determined  by  the  colors 
of  the  strands.  PI.  xix  shows  the  loom  with 
an  unfinished  belt  upon  it.  The  art  of  weav- 
ing, the  highest  artistic  accomplishment  of 
the  Newfoundland  band,  seems  more  closely 
related  to  the  Micmac;  nothing  like  it  occurs 
among  the  Montagnais.  Several  informants 
claimed,  however,  that  they  had  heard  of 
its  derivation  from  the  Red  Indians.  I 
hardly  think,  though,  that  such  a  claim 
should  be  seriously  considered. 

Another  rather  fine  art  is  the  wea\'ing  of 
very  fine  cords  of  rabbit  wool  in  varied 

INDIAN    NOTES 

SPECK — BEOTHUK    AND    MICMAC 


MICMAC-MONTAGNAIS     WOMAN     AT     BADGERS     BROOK     IN 
SEALSKIN  CAPOTE  WITH  SNOWSHOES  OF  LOCAL  TYPE 


SPECK — BEOTHUK    AND    MICMAC 


FRANK    JOE     AND     WIFE,     M  I  C  M  AC- MONTAG  N  Al  S    OF    ST 
GEORGES     BAY    SETTLEMENT.     WEST     COAST     OF 
NEWFOUNDLAND 


SNOW SHOES 


30 


colors  to  be  sewed  on  the  edge  of  caps,  cloth 
ing,  and  the  like,  sometimes  made  into 
designs  as  a  substitute  for  beadwork  and 
painting.  This  art  is  comparable  with  the 
former  work  of  the  Montagnais  in  wool 
embroidery,  and  in  later  days  in  silk.  I 
have  described  this  technique  in  another 
paper.^" 

Thfe  scarcity  of  skin  and  cloth  bags  among 
the  Newfoundland  Indians  contrasts  with 
their  abundance  among  the  Montagnais 
and  even  the  Micmac  of  the  mainland. 
Only  a  few  bags  or  pouches  {nialsewi"  ^^) 
were  obtained  (pi.  xxn),  one  of  caribou- 
skin,  dyed  red,  and  another  of  muskrat- 
skin. 

Snowshoes  (a'ygmk'),  shown  in  pi.  xxiii, 
are  not  so  finel}'  made  as  are  those  of 
the  ]\Iontagnais.  They  resemble  more  the 
snowshoes  of  the  INIicmac  of  the  mainland.^^ 
Crooked  knives  (-u.<aya'yaii);  awls  with 
wooden  handles  {sisi"san);  hide-scrapers 
and  hair-removers  {say'dfi''gan);  snowshoe 
needles  {tatwi'gan)  of  caribou  antler  or 
bone;  netting  needles  {sa'yadik')  of  wood 
(all  shown  in  pi.  xxiv-xxvii),  are  all  of  a 


AND    MO  N  O  G  R  A  V H  S 


40 


B  E  O  T  H  U  K   A  N  D    M  I  C  M  A  C 


type  common  to  both  the  Montagnais  and 
the  Micmac.'^  There  is  no  reason  why  many 
of  them  should  not  have  been  the  same  among 
the  Beothuk,  since  one  hair-remover  at 
least  of  the  common  sort  was  found,  as  I 
have  previously  mentioned,  in  a  Beothuk 
wigwam  pit  at  Badger's  Brook  (pi.  vi). 
There  is,  however,  nothing  distinctive  in  any 
way  about  implements  of  the  class  described, 


Fig.  1.— Leaf  of  Sarracena  purpurea  (pitcher  plant)  used 
as  an  improvised  pipe  by  Newfoundland  Indians. 

for  the  types  are  present  among  all  the 
tribes  of  the  northeastern  culture  group. 

Harpoon-heads  of  antler  are  represented 
in  the  collection  by  several  types,  one  for 
spearing  beaver  (smnuskwa'ndi')  shown  in 
pi.  xxviii,  e;  others  for  seals  and  caribou 
{a,  c) .  The  antler  toggle  (d)  is  called  pska'o?^ 
These  lances  and  harpoons,  and  the  fish- 
spear  {ni'yo'yal;  pi.  xxvni,  &),  are  also  of 
the  type  conmion  among  the  Eskimo,  Mon- 


INDIAN    NOTES 


SPECK — BEOTHUK    AND    MICMAC 


WIFE    OF     FRANK    JOE     WEARI  NQTcH  ARACTERI STI C     HEAD- 
COVERING 


SPECK — BEOTHUK    AND    MICMAC 


ct 


BOOTS  AND  MOCCASINS  OF  THE  BADGER'S  BROOK  BAND 
OF  MICMAC 
a,  Child's  red  tanned  sealskin  moccasin.-  h,  Man's  red  tanned  caribou- 
skin  moccasin. -c,  Boot  of  sealskin^with.'caribou-fur  trimming,  d.  Boot 
with  upper  of  tanned  sealskin  andifeetiOfg.caribou-skin  (length,  14  in.). 
e,  Red  tanned  caribou-skin  top  boot  moccasins 


BASKETS 


41 


tagnais,  and  Micmac;  in  fact,  throughout  the 
North. 

Smokmg-pipes  are  improvised  from  the 
leaf  of  the  pitcher-plant  {Sarracerm  pur- 
purea), shown  in  fig.  1.  The  green  tubular 
leaf  body  endures  for  a  period  long  enough 
for  the  user  to  enjoy  one  filling  of  it,  either 
with  tobacco  or  with  dried  red-willow  bark. 
The  natives  also  use  an  improvised  pipe 
made  of  a  roll  of  birch-bark.  Howley  (p. 
339)  mentions  the  same  smoking  materials 
and  adds  that  they  were  probably  used 
also  by  the  Beothuk. 

Maple  splint  baskets  {pudaW  e'wi,^'"  pi. 
xxrx)  are  the  comparatively  recent  prod- 
ucts of  an  art  brought  from  the  Micmac 
of  the  mainland,  for  nothing  of  the  kind  is 
found  among  the  Montagnais,  nor  in  fact 
was  it  found  in  earlier  times  among  any  of 
the  other  Wabanaki.^^  On  the  other  hand, 
the  decorated  birch-bark  baskets  so  charac- 
teristic of  the  Montagnais  are  not  common 
in  Newfoundland  either,  and  we  find  only  a 
few  of  the  beautiful  quiUworked  bark  boxes 
of  the  Micmac  type.  Since  porcupines  are 
not  native  to  Newfoundland,  the  few  old 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


42 

B  E  0  T  H  U  K 

AND    MI CM AC 

n 

ir. 

women  who,  a  genera- 

in 

1 

tion  ago,  preserved  the 

Hi 

national   art    of    quill- 

■l 

'J2 

work  on  bark  (pi.  xxx) 

'H 

_c 

had    to    import   their 

iiH 

1 

quills  from  Nova  Scotia. 

ill 

c 

<L> 

Bark  boxes  are  a'luwa- 

'm 

"3 

bax,  "oval  shaped;"  and 

m 

o 

awi'yo'yalayan,  "round 

1               5 

bark  box."    They  were 

i''*l'  1 

1             "^ 

formerly   common   ob- 

''    1 

I           1 

jects.^^ 

'  '1  . 

11          1 

From  several  himters 

m 

III       t 

I    obtained    perforated 

1  'l 

llill 

stones       {kwunde'u, 

j 

Ilii    ^ 

"stone;"  pi.   xxxi,    b, 

|'||.!' 

Hllk 

c)  which  they  cherished 

/.I  r|,l; 
/I'PI 

iHiliu. 

as  luck  charms  to  aid 

■\ 

them  in  hunting.     Nei- 

'!> 

1 

ther  among  the  Montag- 

ii 

nais  nor  the  Micmac,  so 

'it- 

far,  have  I  encountered 
the  same  fetishes,   al- 

\i'^K| 

fll"';^''":'-': 

though  I  had  obtained 
'  them  previously    from 

.Vi^iF 

k 

<Ml 

the  Penobscot  of  Maine. 

INDIAN    NOTES 

SPECK — BEOTHUK    AND    MICMAC 


LOOM     OF    THE     BADGERS     BROOK      BAND    OF     MICMAC     FOR 

WEAVING    PACK-STRAPS.    BELTS.    ETC. 

L'nfinishi-iJ   belt   in   loom   to  show   nicthoil   of   weaving 


2  ° 


53  ii 


5  -tI 


BEOTHUK    CANOES 

43 

Should  these  be  also  considered  as  Beothuk 
borrowings,  they  are  at  least  of  an  Algon- 
kian  nature.  A  luck  charm  consisting  of 
seven  lynx  teeth  attached  to  a  cord  was 
obtained  from  a  hunter  of  the  Badger's 
Brook  band.  Among  all  the  northern  tribes 
similar  fetish  objects  are  in  fashion.  Ani- 
mals' teeth  perforated  for  suspension  have 
also  been  found  in  Beothuk  graves.^^ 

To  conclude  this  brief  account  of  New- 
foundland material  culture  I  might  add  a  few 
notes  on  Beothuk  ethnology,  giving  some 
of  the  ideas  possessed  by  the  present  Micmac 
of  the  island  (see  pi.  xxxii).  "The 
Red  Indian  canoes  were  made  of  bark, 
shaped  like  a  'bean'  and  pomted  at  the  bot- 
tom. They  were  very  ticklish,  but  the 
Red  Indians  could  manage  them  perfectly. 
They  wore  caribou-skin  clothes  with  the 
fur  turned  inside  or  tanned,  and  lined  with 
otter,  beaver,  or  other  kinds  of  fur.  They 
were  not  so  much  characterized  by  having 
their  clothing  dyed  red  as  their  skin.  They 
wore  hooded  coats,  frequently  decorated 
with  painting,  pants  and  boots."'' 

A  small  collection  of  ethnological  objects, 

AND    MONOGRAPHS 

44 


BEOTHUK    AND    MICMAC 


which  my  own  collection  duplicates,  ob- 
tained from  the  present-day  Indians  of  the 
island,  is  in  the  Museum  of  the  Geological 
Survey  of  Newfoundland,  having  been  col- 
lected years  ago  by  Mr  Howley.  They  are 
of  the  same  type  as  those  just  described.  A 
more  important  collection  of  stone  imple- 
ments from  many  parts  of  the  coast  and 
from  the  Exploits  region  is  also  to  be  seen 
there.  Some  of  the  bone  and  antler  imple- 
ments and  the  birch-bark  receptacles  are  of 
the  same  type  as  those  which  I  have  just 
discussed  as  being  common  among  the  Al- 
gonkian  of  the  East  in  general.  One  can- 
not escape  the  impression  again  that  the 
Beothuk  articles  in  this  collection  are  of  a 
distinctly  Algonkian  character. 

Gatschet's  idea*''  that  the  Beothuk  dif- 
fered from  most  other  Indians  in  being  of  a 
hghter  color,  in  having  the  excavations  in 
their  lodges  for  sleeping-berths,  in  the  form 
of  their  canoes,  in  the  non-domestication 
of  the  dog,*^  and  the  absence  of  pottery,  of 
course,  is  not  of  great  importance,  because 
most  of  these  remarks  would  apply  to  the 
ethnology  of  some  of  the  neighboring  tribes. 


INDIAN    NOTES 


B.o™x 

(NewfouDdJand) 

m..£^^,„, 

(Labrador) 

WABWiAn  (Maledte,  PauunS' 

Vv  of  ted  oditt  on  clothing,  botly.  uttltiib. 

"'^""'"■""■^ 

Red   Mhcr   occuiooally   on 

(Penobscot    region)     (Wil- 

"S',fp"1wST.'° '""'■■'""'■  '""■ 

^  h»p\"«^^ronTl^' '"" 

Bark  wigwam  with  hoop  (alu 
Orchard  in  Amtr.  Anihnpal- 

'"|ig'„„"'S"»i:'.ors.ss',' 

RMianeuIftclog  wigwam,  bark 

R  ec  Langula  r  ik  in  -co  v«red  wig- 
■upcrslructure. 

Rectangulat  log  wigwam,  bark 

^'^I'e.TqTlOir'^'"'"'^ 

Elevated     wpampiU,    rec- 

Ba.kc=«.x.^,'.^^    ^^^      _           ,    ^    ^    :    ._M.d 

'"='""-""^°" 

Skin  canoe  and  bark  unoe, 

"""'"""  '"'  '""■ 

sleeves  OJowley.  p.  212). 

"SSt"""''" "'"  ""■ 

sleeve?  (Denys.  p.  412;  Le- 

^r.V'.l^eS'^S'^U.,'""'- 

Caribou-hock  tools  (Howlty.  pp.  271-32:). 

PoioUd  cap. 

Dtc(  Itnec*  (Howlty.  pp.  6B-.0.  152). 

SttttJ.t. 

S<m>lflr. 

Broad  netted  in<,»,bo«. 

SeinCoiccd  bow  (Howley,  i>.  27 1 ). 

""'•""■'""'^  °   °" 

needle..  tt«. 

SmtiHt. 

df«'  (benys.  pp,  406.  415). 

(?) 

Wovm  »ool  p..k-lt.p,  ottd 

Braided   leairitr  and  willow- 
ba.k  pack-linw. 

Btiidcd   biuwood   bitk   and 

Bireb.bark   veHCls  and  reecpUdcs   (How- 

SiitiiJnr. 

S.r>.lar. 

Senl   Etomiich   oil   reeeplade   (Howlcy,   p. 

Sittttl.t. 

Seal^stomach  grease  recepta- 

Biiby  sack  (no  menlion  o(  cradle-boa rd|. 

Il.b,  l.<k. 

40i;LcClercq,  p.  89). 

^xS^f.l'*'"*  *""'   f^O'^i'y-  Pl'   w^. 

Thtowingdicc  giitic. 

Throwing-dice,  and  dke-nnd- 

Moitttnals'  ikuJls  piescrved  as 

^^pilcI^edlTe™' '''""' 

S,m,l.t. 

Seri«  of  triangles  thief  mo  live  ir.  decora- 
tive   engravine     (Howlcy,    pi.     xxxv- 

^'"S-A"""'" '"  '"'' 

Irianglcs  in  wood-carving. 

Geometrical  figures  in  clchinn 
triangles  in  nood-cnrving. 

Ttjo,te^.»nj«onnoil™,  In 

"pas^im'Dnd''p.'lSO)'"  *"'"''*^'  ^'  "'  " 

Similar^ (aUo^«alping.   U- 

Corpie  wrapped  in  birch-baik 

S)S£lnHrbEVof- 

coffin!""'    '" 

S,m,Inr  type  (also  De-.>-.,  p. 

.,nu)ar  type. 

"""""""■ 

r 


73  a. 
.< 

o^- 

cr  ^ 

,  < 
-'  a. 


SPECK — BEOTHUK    AND    MICMAC 


TOBACCO-POUCHES     OF    THE     BADGER'S     BROOK     BAND     OF 

MICMAC 

a,  Of  red  tanned  cariijou-skiii,  with  string  of  spun  caribou  wool;  width, 

41  in.     b.  Of  muskrat-skin 


BEOTHUK   ETHNOLOGY 

45 

]\Ioreover,  the  isolated  fact  that  the  Beo- 
thuk  used  the  inner  bark  of  Pinus  balsanii- 
fera  for  food^^  is,  like  many  other  customs, 
not  an  exclusive  one,  because  the  Mon- 
tagnais  do  the  same  with  the  iimer  rind 
of  canoe  birch  when  pressed  by  famine. 

The  accompanying  tabulated  ethnologi- 
cal summary  has  been  prepared  for  the  con- 
venience of  the  reader.    It  reveals,  on  the 
basis  of  what  is  known  of  Beothuk  ethnol- 
og\',  the  degree  of  resemblance  of  the  Beo- 
thuk to  the  Micmac-Montagnais  of  New- 
foundland, and  that  of  these  two  peoples 
individually  to  the  Montagnais  north  of  the 
St  Lawrence  and  to  the  IMicmac  and  the 
Wabanaki  tribes  south  of  that  stream.    A 
tabulation  of  this  nature  is  of  course  valu- 
able only  to  a  limited  extent,  because  we 
cannot  rely  on  the  significance  of  anything 
negative  owing  to   the  incompleteness  of 
our  knowledge  of  the  Beothuk.    As  for  the 
other  tribes  in  the  columns,  since  the  list  is 
not  intended  to  focus  their  characteristics  as 
a  body  apart  from  those  of  the  Beothuk,  the 
significance  of  the  comparison  is  even  less, 
for  its  scope  is  restricted  to  the  Beothuk 

AND    MONOGRAPHS 

46 

BEOTHUK   AND    MIC MAC 

correspondences.     The  blank  spaces  in  the 
columns  denote  that  the  particular  feature 
is  lacking,  so  far  as  the  data   show.     The 
references  in  the  Beothuk  column  are   to 
Howley's  monograph;  the  statements  refer- 
ring to  the  other  tribes  are  based  mostly  on 
my  own  field  observations.    The  other  au- 
thorities,  where  mentioned,  are:    Nicholas 
Denys,  The  Description  and  Natural  His 
tory  of  the  Coasts  of  North  America  .    .    . 
Paris,  1672,  reprinted  in  Publications  of  the 
Champlain  Society,  Toronto,  1908,  by  W. 
F.  Ganong;  and  Father  Chrestien  Le  Clercq, 
New  Relation  of  Gaspesia  .   .    .  Paris,  1691. 
reprinted  in  Publications  of  the  Champlain 
Society,   Toronto,  1910,  by  W.  F.  Ganong. 

FOLKLORE   NOTES   FROM  THE  NEWFOUND- 
LAND  BAND 

In  the  ancient  Micmac  nomenclature  of 
Newfoundland  are  a  few  names  connected 
with   Beothuk   history.     Red   Indian   lake 
is  Meywe'djewa'gi',    "Red   Indian   lake." 
The  various  Red  Indian  camp-sites,  the  old 
deer  fences,  and  especially  the  large  camp- 

INDIAN    NOTES 

FOLKLORE 

47 

site    at    Red    Indian   point  (pi.    xxxni), 
are  familiar  to  all  the  present-day  Indians. 
The  melancholy  history  of  their  former  con- 
geners and  speculations  as  to  their  ultimate 
fate  are  subjects  that  appeal  strongly  to  the 
Micmac.     In  general  the  idea  that  the  Mic- 
mac-Montagnais  aided  in   the  remorseless 
activities    against    the     Beothuk     arouses 
somewhat   indignant   denial   among   them. 
Despite  the  fact  that  historical  notices,  most 
of  which  I  find  have  been  disseminated  from 
only  one  or  two  sources,  mention  the  Mic- 
mac among  the  persecutors  of  the  Red  Indi- 
ans, it  must  be  confessed  that  I  myself  am 
rather  skeptical  on  the  point.    The  Micmac 
sincerely  profess  pity  for  the  unfortunate 
tribe,  and  commiserate  their  hard  life  in  the 
interior,  terrified  as  they  fancy  by  the  en- 
croachments of  people  with  firearms,  and 
driven  away  from  the  benefit  of  intercourse 
with  those  who  could  have  furnished  them 
with    modern   utensils   and   religion.     The 
Indians  of  Newfoundland  today  regard  the 
Red  Indians  as  a  people  who  were  doomed 
to  their  fate  through  an  unconquerable  fear 
of  their  fellow-men,  Micmac  as  well  as  Euro- 

AND    MONOGRAPHS 

48 


BEOTHUK   AND    MICMAC 


pean.  In  a  way  it  might  throw  Ught  upon 
the  situation  to  refer  to  the  fact  that  the 
Montagnais  of  Labrador,  I  find,  regard  their 
neighbors,  the  Naskapi  of  the  interior,  in 
the  same  light.  It  is  common  to  hear- Mon- 
tagnais hunters  from  the  coast  relate  how, 
when  they  chanced  upon  a  remote  camp  of 
Naskapi  in  their  wanderings,  the  latter  fled 
in  fear  before  those  who  were  clothed  in 
white  men's  garments. 

Returning  to  the  subject  of  local  nomen- 
clature, there  is  another  place  known  to  the 
English  as  Hodge's  mountain,  some  dis- 
tance northeast  of  the  village  of  Badger's 
Brook.  This  is  called  Meywe'za'xsit,  "red- 
faced  person."  It  is  claimed  that  a  Mic- 
mac  hunter  many  years  ago  discovered  a 
Red  Indian  camp  on  its  slopes.  Every- 
thing was  intact  in  a  lone  wigwam  discov- 
ered there,  which  was  lined  with  caribou- 
skins  (incidentally  another  Algonkian  re- 
semblance). Here,  Louis  John  clauns,  is 
where  the  last  Red  Indians  are  thought  to 
have  starved  to  death  during  a  severe  win- 
ter storm. 

Some   historical   accounts   from   Indian 


INDIAN    NOTES 


SPECK — BEOTHUK    AND    MICMAC 


SNOWSHOES    OF    THE    BADGERS    BROOK    BAND    OF    MICMAC 
Uolh  arc  filled  with  caribouhide  thongs;  b  is  36  in.  long 


SPECK — BEOTHUK    AND    MICMAC 


d 


PICK,  AWLS  AND  KNIVES  OF  THE   BADGER'S  BROOK  BAND  OF 
MICMAC 
a,  Antler  pick   for  punching  meat    to   be   smoke-dried,     h,   c.   Crooked 
knives    (wa'ya'yan).    d.    Iron    awl    {slsi'gan).     e,    Iron    awl  with    carved 
handle.     Leniith  of  c.  9J  in. 


BUCHAN 

sources  and  some  miscellaneous  Beothuk  lore 
gathered  incidentally  in  the  interior  are  next 
presented.'*' 

The  Story  of  Buchan's  Expedition*^ 

(Related   by  John   Paul,   of   Badger's   Brook, 

Xe^vfoundland,  68  years  of  age  in  1914, 

who  heard  it  from  his  grandfather^-) 

■'Captain  Buchan,  with  a  jMicmac  and  a 
Mountaineer  Indian  for  guides,  went  to  capture 
some  Red  Indians.  They  ascended  Exploits 
river  in  the  winter  and  with  the  help  of  their 
guides  who  knew  the  country  well,  discovered  a 
Red-Indian  camp  at  Red  Indian  point, ^"^  where 
the  chief  lived.  The  Micmac  and  Mountaineer 
guide  enabled  the  party  to  make  friends  with 
the  people  at  the  camp.  Buchan  told  the  Red 
Indians  that  he  had  presents  for  them  back  on 
Exploits  river,  and  said  that  he  would  take  two 
of  them  back  with  him  to  get  the  stufiF.  So  he 
left  two  of  his  outi  men  at  the  camp.  So  they 
started  back  to  the  mouth  of  Exploits.  When 
they  got  to  Rushy  pond,  caribou  footprints  were 
seen  and  the  two  Red  Indians  were  told  by  sig- 
nals to  give  chase.  The  two  then  started  off, 
not  understanding  apparently  for  what  reason 
the}'  were  sent  away.  By  the  next  night  they 
had  not  returned,  and  Buchan  told  the  Micmac 
and  Mountaineer  to  track  them.  They  started 
on  the  track  and  came  back  to  report  that  the 
Red  Indians'  trail  led  back  toward  Red  Indian 
lake.  So  then  the  whole  party  started  back 
and  reached  the  camp  at  Red  Indian  point. 


49 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


50 


BEOTHUK   AND    MICMAC 


It  was  deserted,  but  the  two  white  men  were 
found  beheaded.  Then  Buchan  gave  chase,  but 
his  party  was  unable  to  follow  them  because 
there  were  footprints  in  confusion  all  over  the 
snow  on  the  lake.  So  Buchan  went  to  several  of 
their  abandoned  camps  and  put  gunpowder  in 
all  the  fireplaces  so  that  they  would  blow  up 
when  the  Red  Indians  came  back  to  light  the 
fires  at  their  old  camps.  Afterward,  of  course, 
a  lot  of  the  Red  Indians  were  killed  by  the 
device. 

"Some  time  later  John  Peyton  and  another 
man  (named  Day?)  went  to  the  interior  to  cap- 
ture some  Red  Indians.  They  struck  the  head- 
waters of  Mary  March  brook  and  went  down 
walking  on  the  ice  until  they  came  to  the 
mouth,  at  the  north  arm  of  Red  Indian  lake. 
This  is  now  Mary  March's  point,  right  at  the 
village  of  Millertown.'*'  Here  they  found  a 
family  camping.  They  approached  slyly  and 
took  the  family  by  surprise.  They  took  hold 
of  the  woman,  Mary  March,  and  her  husband 
came  to  her  aid.  They  then  shot  five  balls 
into  him  before  he  fell.  He  was  a  very  big 
man,  seven  feet  tall,  as  they  measured  him 
with  their  feet  while  he  lay  at  full  length  on  the 
ice.  Mary  JMarch  then  pointed  out  to  the 
white  men  her  fuU  breasts  to  show  that  she  had 
a  child,  and  pointed  up  to  the  heavens  to  implore 
them,  in  God's  mercy,  to  allow  her  to  return  to 
her  child.  But  they  took  her  away  with  them 
and  returned  to  St  John  where  she  died  after  a 
while. 

"My  grandfather  [John  Paul  speaking]  re- 
membered when  he  went  to  St  John  and  saw 


INDIAN    NOTES 


SPECK — BEOTHUK    AND    MrCMAC 


BONE  AND  ANTLER  IMPLEMENTS  OF  THE  BADGER'S  BROOK 
BAND  OF  MICMAC 
a,  b.  Caribou-bone  scrapers  (lciiii');aii)  for  scrapinR  hair  from  hides. 
c,  d.  Antler  piercers  for  perforalinj;  margin  of  hides  for  lacing  when  put 
on  frames  to  be  scraped,  c,  Caribou  leg-bone  scraper.  /,  Antler  hide- 
scraper  for  scraping  grease  from  skin-  ulnn  ■^l  rclrhi-d  on  frames 


SPECK — BEOTHUK    AND    MICMAC 


PUNCH.  NEEDLES.  AND  CHISEL  OF  THE  BADGER'S  BROOK 
BAND  OF  MICMAC 
(a,  caribou-bone  punch  for  reeulating  me?h  of  snowshoe  filling  (ilewe'gan); 
7i  in.  long,  b,  Snowshoe  needle  of  caribou-bone  (talwi'gan).  c.  Snow- 
shoe  needle  of  caribou-antler,  d,  Iron  chisel  (waliski'gan,  sabiski'gan)  for 
cutting  mortise  holes  in  snowshoe  frames 


MIC MAC   LORE 


51 


Mary  March.  At  the  time  he  wore  a  pair  of 
caribou-skin  boots.  Poor  ^lary,  when  she  saw 
the  boots,  pointed  to  them  and  was  so  glad  to  see 
something  that  reminded  her  of  her  people. 
My  grandfather  thought  she  was  very  good- 
looking  and  of  a  fair  complexion.  They  used 
red  clay  to  color  themselves  with,  which  is 
known  to  abound  in  certain  localities  on  Exploits 
river  and  Red  Indian  lake." 


.-1  Meeting  Between  a  Bed  Indian  s 
Family  and  a  Micmac  Family 

(Also  by  John  Paul's  dictation) 
"My  grandfather  and  grandmother  were  once 
coming  up  Exploits  river  in  their  canoe.  Sud- 
denly coming  around  a  bend  they  beheld  a  Red 
Indian  and  his  wife  in  a  canoe  coming  down. 
When  the  Red  Indian  saw  them  he  quickly 
paddled  ashore  and  he  and  his  wife  hurried  into 
the  woods  to  hide,  taking  only  his  bow  and 
arrows.  The  ^Micmac  paddled  alongside  the 
empty  canoe  and  there  saw  a  small  child  lying 
in  the  bottom,  but  there  was  nothing  to  eat  in 
the  canoe.  Then  my  grandfather  said  to  his 
wife:  'They  have  nothing  to  eat  and  must  be 
going  down  to  the  bay  [Exploits  bay]  for  fish. 
Let  us  put  some  of  our  smoked  meat  in  their 
canoe.'  So  he  put  some  meat  in  for  a  present 
and  paddled  on.  When  they  got  around  the 
point,  they  went  ashore  and  walked  back 
through  the  thicket  to  where  they  could  see 
the  Red  Indian's  canoe.  They  beheld  the  Red 
Indian  soon  come  down  to  his  canoe,  look  in, 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


52 


BEOTHUK   AND    MIC MAC 


then  beckon  to  his  wife,  who  came  out.  Then 
he  pointed  out  to  her  the  meat  in  the  canoe. 
Then  he  pointed  to  where  my  grandfather  had 
gone  up-river  in  his  canoe  and  paddled  off." 

An  Encounter  with  Red  Indians  near 
Twillingate 

(Told  by  an  old  man  at  MiUertown  Junction) 
"Near  Twillingate  the  fishermen  often  went 
into  the  interior  to  hunt  and  trap,  leaving  their 
women  folks  home  until  their  return.  One  time 
an  old  fellow  went  hunting,  and  during  his 
absence  one  night  a  couple  of  Red  Indians 
came  and  got  upon  the  roof  of  the  shack.  The 
fisherman's  wife  got  frightened  and  called  to  her 
children  to  bring  the  gun.  As  soon  as  the  Red 
Indians  heard  the  word  'gun,'  which  they 
seemed  to  understand,  they  fled." 

An  Encounter  near  Dildo  Arm 

(Told  by  Mr  Hartigan  at  MiUertown) 
"One  time  near  Dildo  Arm  some  hunters  who 
went  into  the  woods  left  their  guns  at  their 
camp,  not  suspecting  any  danger.  Some  Red 
Indians  discovered  the  camp  and  were  exam- 
ining the  outfit.  The  young  white  men  hid  and 
watched  the  Indians.  One  of  the  Indians  was 
peeking  down  the  barrel  of  a  gun  which  was 
loaded,  while  another  was  fingering  around  the 
trigger.  The  gun  suddenly  went  off  and  blew 
off  the  head  of  the  Indian.  They  were  very 
wild  and  unsophisticated  people,  and  fled  in 
terror." 


INDIAN    NOTES 


SPECK — BEOTHUK    AND    MICMAC 


cu 


WOODEN    NETTING    IMPLEMENTS   OF   THE    BADGERS    BROOK 
BAND   OF    MICMAC 
a.  Netting  needle.     6,  Xettins  mesh-block    for    making    fishnets,     c,  </, 
Net  floats,  charred  to  prevent  waterlogging,     (/is  II  in.  long 


<  o  «  ? 

"3  ■^  -  o  £? 

I  ^  -c  -o  c 

X  o  .b 

CO  —  _;1313 

Li.  ^  O  S  t, 

i° 

<  Q 


o-a 


O  rt 
to"   <  ^^  g 

Q  m  :3  I.  o 


a 


UJ 


0.-2 

•O  he 


MI CM AC   LORE 


53 


Miscellaneous  Anecdotes 

A.  (Told  by  William  Beaton,  a  Micmac-^Mon- 

tagnais  at  Badger's  Brook) 
"There  was  once,  it  is  told,  a  large  schooner 
loaded  with  fifty  tierces  of  codfish  anchored  ofif 
the  shore  in  Twillingate  bay.  The  crew  had 
gone  ashore,  and  during  one  night  the  schooner 
was  boarded  by  some  Red  Indians  and  dis- 
mantled. When  the  crew  returned  they  found 
all  her  sails  cleared  away  and  her  ropes  all  gone. 
All  her  instruments  and  clocks  were  also  taken. 
The  Red  Indians  took  everything  in  the  outfit. 
They  used  the  sails  for  tents  and  clothing. 
Years  afterward  the  works  of  the  clocks  stolen 
from  this  schooner,  it  is  supposed,  were  found 
by  some  hunters  on  the  shores  of  Exploits 
•       »  *  - 

nver. 

B.  (Told   by   Mr  Tuck,   of   Millertown,^who, 

when  he  was  a  boy,  heard  it  from 
John  Day  himself)  ^'^ 
John  Day,  who  died  some  years  ago  at 
Springdale,  was  with  Peyton  when  he  cap- 
tured Mar>'  March.  They  had  to  kill  her  hus- 
band by  shooting  seven  balls  into  him.  Then 
he  sat  down  and  could  not  move  any  more 
after  the  seventh  shot.  Mary  March  showed 
the  men  her  breasts  full  for  her  sucking  child, 
but  nevertheless  they  carried  her  away." 

c.  (Told  by  Louis  John,  a  :Micmac-Montagnais 
at  Badger's  Brook) 
"Ben  Jore's  grandfather  was  killed  by  the 
Red  Indians  near  the  mouth  of  Exploits  river. 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


54 


BEOTHUK    AND    MIC MAC 


They  cut  off   his   head,  put  it   on  a  pole,  and 
danced  around  it." 

D.  (Told  by  an  old  Scotchman  at  Millertown 

Junction,   recalling   memories  of  his   youth. 

He  added,  "The  Red  Indians  were  such  bad 

people  I  fancy  it  was  no  sin  to  kill  them!") 

"The  last  evidence  of  the  Red  Indians  was 

seen  at  Grand  lake  by  a  hunter  many  years  ago. 

One  year  he  saw  a  big  smoke  on  an  island  in  the 

lake.     A  canoe-load  of  Indians  was  seen  going 

from  the  shore  to  the  island.-    The  hunter  was 

afraid  to  investigate  further  at  the  time,  but 

the  next  year  he  went  to  the  same  place.     This 

time,  however,  he  did  not  see  any  more  traces 

of  the  Indians." 


As  an  instance  of  the  friendly  relations 
claimed  by  the  Micmac-Montagnais  with 
the  Red  Indians,  which  I  have  already 
mentioned,  Louis  John,  quoted  above,  says 
that  his  grandfather's  father  was  employed 
by  the  English  to  guide  them  to  Red  Indian 
lake  to  try  to  capture  some  Red  Indians. 
When  he  found  a  Red  Indians'  camp  he 
would  tell  the  poor  folk  to  run,  and  then 
he  would  return  and  tell  the  Englishmen 
that  he  saw  some  Red  Indians,  but  that  they 
ran  off.  "The  Micmacs  never  molested  the 
Red  Indians,"  declared ^Louis  John. 


INDIAN    NOTES 


SPECK — BEOTHUK    AND    MICMAC 


SPLINT    BASKETRY    OF   THE    BADGERS    BROOK    BAND    OF 

MICMAC 

a  shows  a  splint  wall-pocket;  the  others  are  hand  and  trinket  baskets 


SPECK — BEOTHUK    AND    MICMAC 


It0 


BIRCH-BARK    BOXES    OF    THE    BADGERS    BROOK    BAND    OF 
MICMAC 
a,  Box  covered  with  porcupine-quill  work,     h,  \'ery  old  birch-bark  and 
wooden  box,  covered  with  quillwork,  made  by  old  "Aunt   Ellen"  Paul, 
oldest  of  the  Newfoundland  Micmac.     c.  Birch-bark  box  with  cover 


SANTU  55 


THE   CASE    OF   SANTU 

The  most  surprising  occurrence,  however, 
in  recent  years  concerning  the  fate  of  the 
Beothuk  Indians  was  the  accidental  dis- 
covery of  an  old  Indian  woman  named 
Santu,  who  claimed  that  her  father  was  one 
of  the  last  survivors  of  the  Red  Indians  of 
Newfoundland.  Since  considerable  discus- 
sion was  aroused  over  the  innocent  claim  of 
the  old  woman  when  I  had  made  it  public, 
I  shall  give  the  circumstances  in  some  detail, 
for  the  benefit  of  those  who  may  wish  to 
determine  to  what  extent  her  testimony 
may  be  relied  on,  before  making  use  of  the 
information  and  the  brief  vocabulary 
obtained  from  her. 

Mr  James  P.  Howley,  Director  of  the 
Geological  Survey  of  Newfoundland,  who 
for  more  than  forty  years  has  been  inter- 
ested in  the  history  of  the  Beothuk,  during 
a  visit  I  made  him  at  St  Johns  in  1914, 
expressed  his  unbelief  in  Santu's  veracity.^^ 
Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  Mr  Howley's 
opinions,  based  on  his  extensive  knowledge 
of  Newfoundland  history  and  physiography. 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


56 

BEOTHUK   AND    MICMAC 

deserve  serious  consideration,  I  hardly  think, 
under  the  curcumstances,  that  the  conclu- 
sions of  one  trained  in  sciences  other  than 
ethnology  are  sufficient  to  warrant  abso- 
lutely casting  aside  information  which  may 
be  of  value,  and  which  on  the  face  of  it 
does  bear  some  semblance  of  truthfulness. 
In  July,  1910,  I  happened  to  talk  over 
ethnological  matters  with  a  family  of  Mic- 
mac  who  were  temporarily  camped  near 
Gloucester,  Mass.    The  family  consisted  of 
an  aged  woman,  her  son,  his  wife  and  child 
(pi.  xxxiv-xxxvi) .    They  all  spoke  Micmac. 
The  family  name  was  Toney.    On  inquiring 
of  the  young  man,  Joe  Toney,  where  he  was 
born,  he  told  me  in  Newfoundland.     Then 
becoming  more  interested,  I  inquired  if  his 
mother  was  a  native  of  Newfoundland,  and 
he  replied  that  she  was.    After  a  few  min- 
utes' talk  with  his  mother,  he  said  that  she 
was  not  a  true  Micmac,  but  that  her  father 
was  an  Osa'yan'a  Indian  from  Red  Pond, 
Newfoundland.     This  naturally  startled  me, 
because  it  referred  indirectly  to  the  suppos- 
edly extinct  Beothuk.     Further  conversa- 
tion with  the  young  man,  who  translated 

INDIAN   NOTES 

SPECK— BEOTHUK    AND    MICMAC 


FETISH  OBJECTS  OF  THE  BADGERS  BROOK  BAND  OF  MICMAC 
a.    Hunters    luck-charm    of    lyiix-leelh.     b,   <,    llunttr's    luck-charms 
{kwundeu)  of  stone,  kept  about  the  house  on  a  strinK 


SPECK — BEOTHUK    AND    MICMAC 


MICMAC     DOLL     REPRESENTING      'RED     INDIAN"    (.BEOTHUK) 


S  A  N  T  U 

57 

my  questions  to  his  mother,  disclosed   the 
fact  that  she  was  endeavoring  to  explain  to 
me  that,  while  her  mother  was  a  Micmac 
woman,  her  father  was  a  member  of  the 
tribe  which  had  been  exterminated  in  the 
island  by  white  men.    There  was  at  this 
time  in  her  statements  no  idea  of  boasting, 
nor  of  gaining  money  or  favor.     She  did  not 
claim  to  know  any  words  of  her  father's 
language,  but  declared  her  willingness,  if  I 
would  give  her  time,  to  try  to  recall  some. 
On  one  thing  she  was  definite  at  the  very 
first:  that  her  father  claimed  that  he  had 
been  stained  red  when  he  was  a  baby  among 
his  own  people,  and  that  his  people  were 
very   crude   and   were  persecuted   by   the 
EngUsh.     He  had,  it  seems,  been  taken  by 
the  Micmac  when  he  was  young,  reared  by 
them,  and  converted  to  Christianity.     i\s 
for  the  rest,  suffice  to  say  that  I  spent  time 
when  possible  during  the  rest  of  the  summer 
in  following  the  family  about  from  one  sum- 
mer resort  to  another,  encouraging  the  old 
lady,  through  her  son,  to  endeavor  to  recall 
all  that  she  could  of  what  she  had  heard  her 
father  narrate  of  his  early  life  and  people. 

AND    MONOGRAPHS 

58 

BEOTHUK    AND    M I C M A C 

The  old  woman  was  very  difficult  to  work 
with;  because  of  growing  senility  she  was 
unable  to  concentrate  her  attention  on  any 
one  thing  for  a  sufficient  length  of  time 
really  to  accomplish  anything.     Petty  fam- 
ily troubles  and  present  ills  consumed  her 
interest.     And  so  by    eking   out    reminis- 
cences of  that  period  of  her  life  when  she 
lived  with  her  father  in  Newfoundland,  I 
tediously    gathered    the    information    that 
follows.     In  September  I  lost  traces  of  the 
family,  which,  I  learned  later,  had  moved 
to   Attleboro,    Mass.'*^     Knowing    the   old 
woman's  manner  and  the  circumstances,  I 
am  convinced  that  she  was  not  intention- 
ally fabricating  a  story.     My  only  distrust 
of  the  material  she  was  able  to  give  lies  in 
the  accuracy  of  her  memory,  especially  in 
regard  to  her  vocabulary. 

THE  informant's  HISTORY 

Santu  was  born  in  Newfoundland  near 
"Red    Pond"    (Red    Indian    lake),    about 
seventy-five  years  ago   (dating  from  1912). 
Her  father,  "ivo/>"  (name  of  a  red  root  found 
in  the  lake,  according  to  her  vocabulary),^" 

INDIAN    NOTES 

m 


uj  —    E 
Q-l-    g 


LUq 

— 

xoc 

1 

^-o 

>-o 

o_ 

_lO 

q:< 

« 

UJ     . 

"l^ 

5^ 

to 

0:3 

8 

ox 

o 

b-H 

vO 

c^ 

SPECK — BEOTHUK    AND    MICMAC 


PL.    XXXIV 


SANTU    AND    HER    SON.    JOE   TONEY 


S  A  N  T  L'  59 


was  a  full-blood  native  of  a  tribe  which  called 
itself  Osa'yan'a.  The  name  is  also  known 
among  the  Micmac  as  Osa'yan'a.  With 
her  father  she  left  Newfoundland  at  about 
the  age  of  ten,  or  a  little  less,  and  removed 
to  Nova  Scotia,  where  she  passed  her  early 
womanhood.  Her  mother  was  a  IMicmac 
woman,  one  of  the  band  who  lived  in  New- 
foundland. She  died,  it  seems,  when  Santu 
was  quite  young.  A\'hen  Santu  grew  up,  she 
married  a  Mohawk  and  spent  part  of  her 
time  in  New  Brunswick  and  Nova  Scotia, 
and  part  in  roaming  about  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  the  Great  Lakes  with  her  ^Mohawk 
husband  until  the  Civil  War  broke  out, 
when,  to  escape  being  drafted,  he  led  her 
wandering  again  throughout  the  northeast- 
ern states  and  eastern  Canada.  Her  hus- 
band then  died.  Santu  returned  to  Nova 
Scotia  and  married  a  Micmac  chief  near 
Yarmouth,  whose  name  was  Toney.  Liv- 
ing there  a  while,  she  had  four  or  five  chil- 
dren, and  finally,  with  her  youngest  son, 
separated  from  her  husband  and  since  then 
has  been  drifting  about  the  New  England 
states  with  him,  earning  an  uncertain  living 


AND    M  O  N  O  G  R  A  P  H  S 


60 


BEOTHUK   AND    MICMAC 


by  basket-making,  bead-working,  and  for- 
tune-telling. Her  one  son,  Joe  Toney,  still 
lives  with  her.  He  has  married  a  Micmac 
woman  of  Nova  Scotia,  and  they  have  one 
child  (1912). 

ETHNOLOGICAL  NOTES 

Santu  remembers  in  her  childhood  having 
traveled  with  her  father  in  the  skin  canoes 
which  seem  to  have  been  one  of  the  types 
of  craft  in  use  by  the  Osa'ya)i'a.''^  While 
the  details  of  construction  given  by  Santu 
were  very  vague,  it  seems  that  the  canoe 
was  more  of  a  kayak.  It  was  about  fifteen 
feet  in  length  and  about  two  and  a  half  in 
width,  constructed  on  a  wooden  framework 
with  a  caribou-  or  seal-skin  covering  sewed 
with  water-tight  seams.  The  seams  were 
sewed  by  laying  the  two  edges  together, 
bending  them  over  and  sewing  the  three 
thicknesses  together.  Bone  awls,  she  said 
were  used  to  perforate  the  holes  for  the 
stitches.  The  bow  of  the  canoe,  she  re- 
marked, was  straightened  and  stiffened  by  a 
piece  of  spruce-bark  (sic),'"-  and  another 
curved  piece  held  the  stern  in  shape.     The 


INDIAN    NOTES 


SPECK — BEOTHUK    AND    MICMAC 


v"V^^ 


SPECK — BEOTHUK    AND    MICMAC 


m> 


JOE   TONEY 


S  A  N  T  U 

bottom  was  found.  At  the  back  sat  the 
man  with  his  paddle.  The  whole  front  of 
the  craft  was  covered  with  the  skin,  forming 
an  enclosure  large  enough  to  contain  the 
whole  famih',  including  women,  children, 
dogs,  and  property.  At  his  side  and  in 
front  of  him  the  man  had  his  harpoon  and 
other  necessaries  fastened  on  the  side  of  the 
deck.  It  is  to  be  understood  from  this 
description  that  a  covered  kayak-like  type 
of  boat  is  described.  The  skin-covering  of 
the  canoe  was  so  arranged  that  it  could  be 
wrapped  around  the  waist  of  the  man  so 
that  no  water  could  come  into  the  hold  in 
rough  weather  In  this  craft  the  family 
traveled  all  over  the  country  by  waterways 
and  coast,  day  and  night.  When  a  landing 
and  camp  were  to  be  made  the  cover  would 
be  taken  off  the  canoe,  poles  cut  for  a  wig- 
wam, and  a  temporary  camp  made  until  it 
was  time  to  move  on.  Santu  herself  re- 
members being  bundled  in  with  dogs  and 
members  of  her  family,  and  traveling  by 
night  and  day  with  her  father. 

The  people,  she  claimed,  subsisted  largely 
on  sea  mammals'  llesh  and  caribou,  using  the 


61 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


62 

BEOTHUK   AND    MIC MAC 

harpoon,  for  killing  the  former  and  the  bow 
and  arrow  for  the  latter.  When  an  animal 
was  killed  with  an  arrow,  the  arrow  was 
never  used  again,  but  thrown  away  as  a 
kind  of  sacrifice. 

Flesh  to  be  eaten  was  thrown  on  the  fire 
and  only  partly  roasted.  Her  father,  she  re- 
members, would  eat  little  or  no  vegetal  food 
nor  bread.  His  diet  consisted  mostly  of 
half -roasted  meat. 

A  certain  species  of  leaves  was  smoked  in 
stone  pipes. ^^ 

Allowance  should  be  made  for  the  proba- 
bility that  in  some  of  these  descriptions  the 
old  woman's  memory  was  so  hazy  that  she 
could  not  distinguish  between  what  she 
intended  to  claim  as  applying  to  the  cus- 
toms of  her  father's  people  and  those  of  the 
Micmac-Montagnais  among  whom  they 
lived. 

The  most  interesting  information  is  that 
describing  an  annual  ceremony  participated 
in  by  the  tribe  at  "Red  Pond."  It  took 
place  in  the  spring  of  the  year  when  the  tribe 
gathered  and  enjoyed,  to  use  Santu's  phrase, 
"a  big  time."     Games  were  played,  among 

INDIAN    NOTES 

S  A  N  T  U 

them  the  dice-and-bowl  game  in  two  forms. 
One  of  these  was  with  seven  dice  discs  and 
a  bowl,"'*  and  seventeen  counters — four 
square  ones  and  a  crooked  one  called  the 
"chief."  The  other  form  of  the  game  was 
played  with  one  large  die,  about  two  inches 
across,  and  six  small  ones,  which  were  thrown 
upon  a  blanket  or  a  hide  and  struck  side- 
wise  with  the  hand.^^  Men  only  played  the 
latter.  The  Micmac  and  other  eastern 
tribes,  she  claimed,  learned  this  game  orig- 
inally from  her  people.  It  is  worthy  of  note 
that  this  game  does  not  occur  among  the 
Wabanaki  west  of  the  Micmac.  Dancing 
and  feasting  accompanied  the  event.  At  a 
certain  time  the  men  procured  quantities  of  a 
kind  of  red  root  from  the  lake  and  squeezed 
from  it  the  juice  which  was  used  for  staining 
their  bodies  red.  The  ceremony  is  said  to 
have  lasted  about  ten  days.  Every  person 
in  the  tribe  was  dyed.  Children  who  were 
born  during  the  year  away  in  the  hunting 
territories  were  brought  to  this  ceremony 
for  the  first  time  and  received  their  coat  of 
dye,  which  was  to  last  them  for  the  year. 
It  is  supposed  that  under  certain  conditions 


63 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


64 


BEOTHUK   AND    MIC MAC 


the  dye  could  be  renewed,  though  the  ap- 
plication of  the  coloring  was  regarded  as  a 
kind  of  initiation  and  mark  of  tribal  iden- 
tity. One  good  appHcation  is  said  to  have 
lasted  six  months.  Santu's  father,  she 
claimed,  was  the  last  child  to  have  been 
treated  in  this  way.  When  he  grew  up  he 
was  converted  to  Catholicism  and  gave  up 
his  behef  in  the  necessity  of  the  red  dye.  If 
anyone  was  observed  by  the  chief  to  have 
some  of  the  coloring  washed  from  any  part 
of  his  body,  he  was  ordered  to  go  to  water 
and  wash  off  his  dye  as  a  punishment,  and 
not  to  renew  it  until  the  next  ceremony.  ^^ 

Santu  heard  the  tradition  from  her  father 
that  in  his  grandfather's  time  (?)  a  ship  was 
wrecked  off  the  coast  of  Newfoundland  and 
all  hands  were  drowned  except  two  women 
who,  with  the  help  of  the  natives,  were 
brought  ashore.  One  of  them  shortly  after- 
ward died;  the  other  remained  with  the 
tribe,  married  one  of  the  men,  and  spent 
her  Hfe  there.  Her  father  thought  that  he 
was  descended  from  this  woman. 

Several  opinions  expressed  by  Santu  re- 
garding her  father's  people  may  be  of  value. 


INDIAN    NOTES 


S  A  N  T  U  65 


One  was  in  reply  to  a  direct  question  as  to 
whether  her  father's  people  were  of  mixed 
Eskimo  and  Indian  blood.  Friendly  rela- 
tions, she  said,  were  maintained  with  the 
Labrador  Eskimo  and  Indians.  Some  of 
her  father's  people,  she  said,  when  dis- 
persed, joined  them.  She  remembers,  while 
living  in  Nova  Scotia,  a  paternal  uncle  or 
great-uncle  returning  from  Greenland  where 
he  had  emigrated  and  intermarried  with  the 
Eskimo  there.  He  claimed  that  others  of 
their  people  were  in  Greenland,  all  inter- 
married with  Eskimo,  and  that  there  were 
a  number  of  children.  He  died  there  within 
six  months  after  coming  to  Nova  Scotia. 
Santu  stated  that  she  had  a  relative  (I  fail 
to  recall  whether  it  was  a  cousin  or  a  brother) 
somewhere  who  knew  a  great  deal  of  the 
Osa'yan'a  language. 

The  Micmac,  she  said,  came  to  New- 
foundland a  long  time  ago  and  for  a  while, 
with  the  white  people,  fought  her  people. 
Afterward  a  number  intermarried  with  the 
Osa'yocn'a,  some  of  the  descendants  of  the 
latter  being  still  scattered  here  and  there 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


66 


BEOTHUK   AND    .M  I  C  M  A  C 


among  the  Micmac  of  Newfoundland  and 
elsewhere. 

There  seems  little  doubt  from  Santu's 
statements  that  Osa'yan'a  descendants  may 
be  found  in  the  maritime  provinces  and  that 
the  tribal  name  itself  is  one  of  the  native 
terms  for  the  tribe  known  in  history  as  the 
Beothuk. 

Santu,  with  great  difficulty  during  the 
summer,  remembered  the  following  w^ords  in 
her  father's  language: 

be'nam,   woman   (Micmac   and   ]\Ialecite   epil, 

Penobscot  p'hc'nam). 
gu'wa,  fat  person  (Micmac  me'gigil). 
gau,  rain  (Micmac  gi'kpcsa"). 
has,  baby  cradle,  or  cradle-board, 
tu'i^,  baby  blanket  (]\Iicmac  u'ohi''sun). 
se'ko,  prayer  (Micmac  alasic'dma). 
si'kane's'u,  whale  (Micmac  po'dap,    Penobscot 

-es  11,  "living  creature,"  noun  ending  in  animal 

names). 

Note:  ^,  ^,  weakly  articulated  final  conso- 
nants. 

Her  father's  people,  Santu  alleged,  used 
their  hands  a  great  deal  in  conversation. 
The  only  word  in  the  above  list  in  which 
any  resemblance  can  be  recognized  as  occur- 
ring in  any  of  the  pubhshed  Beothuk  lists 


INDIAN    NOTES 


SANTU  I      67 


is  the  term  he  nam,  "woman."  Compare 
emam-  {emumoose),  "woman"  (Peyton  vo- 
cabulary; (Lloyd  in  Journal  of  the  Anthropo- 
logical Institute  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland, 
1875),  and  cnam,  "woman,"  given  by  Patter- 
son in  Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society  of 
Canada,  vol.  x. 

Among  other  reminiscences  I  add  the 
following  song,  transcribed  by  Mr  J.  D. 
Sapir  from  a  phonograph  record  made  by 
Santu  while  she  was  camped  at  Hampton 
Beach,  N.  H.,  in  1910.  It  was  a  rendition 
of  a  song  that  she  had  learned  from  her 
father  when  she  was  a  girl.  She  claimed 
that  her  father  told  her  that  it  was  an 
Osa'yoin'a  song. 

The  syllables  were  too  inarticulate  to  be 
taken  down  at  the  time,  I  am  sorry  to  say. 
Santu  stated  that  she  was  unable  to  explain 
them,  because  they  had  no  sequence  of  mean- 
ing to  her. 

Again  during  my  trip  in  Newfoundland 
I  inquired  of  several  elderly  Indians  about 
the  woman  Santu.  John  Paul,  already 
mentioned,  knew  of  a  woman  of  Santu's 
description  who  had  gone  to  Nova  Scotia 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


•r' 


S  A  N  T  U  69 


and  was  there  the  wife  of  a  wealthy  ISIicmac 
chief  named  Toney.  He  furthermore,  much 
to  my  inward  surprise,  credited  the  claim 
that  her  father  had  been  a  man  of  Red 
Indian  blood.  He  stated  that  the  thing 
was  not  only  possible,  but  that  it  might 
well  be  expected  to  be  true,  considering  the 
sedentary  habits  of  many  of  the  Micmac 
hunters  and  the  secretiveness  of  the  Indians 
concerning  the  Red  Indians  a  generation  or 
so  ago  through  fear  of  retaliation  or  at  least 
molestation  at  the  hands  of  the  English, 
since  such  a  stir  had  been  raised  over  them. 
From  IVIicmac  in  Newfoundland  I  even 
learned  of  another  man,  George  McCloud, 
whom  no  one  could  locate  at  the  time. 
He  was  said  to  have  knowledge  not  only  of 
the  Red  Indian  language,  but  also  of  where 
descendants  could  still  be  found  in  Labrador 
If,  despite  the  meagerness  of  our  actual 
knowledge  of  the  tribe,  any  conclusions  are 
at  all  permissible,  I  believe  the  indications 
will  increasingly  show  that  the  Beothuk 
formed  an  archaic  member  of  the  culture 
group  which  embraced  the  Micmac  and  the 
other  northeastern   Algonkian.     This   is   a 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


70 

BEOTHUK   AND    MIC MAC 

strong  corroboration  of  the  evidence  of  lin- 
guistic  relationship   with    the    Algonkian. 
As  for  the  likelihood  of  Eskimo  relationship, 
the  links  of  union,  either  archeological  or 
otherwise,  are  not  a  bit  stronger  than  be- 
tween  the   Eskimo   and    the   INIontagnais. 
The  next  thing  to  be   done   in   this   field, 
aside  from  systematic  archeological  research, 
is  to  collect  a  sufficient  quantity  of  mytho- 
logical material  from  the  Newfoundland  In- 
dians for  comparison  with  that  of  the  Alic- 
mac  of  the  mainland  in  order  to  determine, 
if  possible,  traces  of  what  might  be  consid- 
ered Beothuk  influence. 

INDIAN    NOTES 

NOTES 


NOTES 


1.  The  primary  object  of  the  expedition,  if  it 

might  be 'called  one,  was  to  trace  the  re- 
mains among  the  ]\Iicmac  of  the  old 
Algonkian  institution  of  the  family  hunt- 
ing territory,  wliich  was  first  mentioned 
in  this  region  by  Le  Clercq  in  1691.  The 
results  form  part  II  of  this  paper. 

2.  C.  C.  Willoughby,  Prehistoric  Burial  Places 

in  jSIaine,  Ardiaeological  and  Ethnological 
Papers  of  the  Peabodv  Museum,  vol.  1, 
no.  6,  Cambridge,  1898. 

3.  W.  K.  Moorehead,  The  Red  Paint  People 

of  Maine,  Amcriean  Anthropologist,  vol. 
15,  no.  1,  1913. 

4.  F.  G.  Speck,  An  Ancient  Archeological  Site 

on  the  Lower  St  Lawrence,  Holmes  An- 
niversary Volume.  Washington,  1916. 

5.  J.  P.  Howiey,  The  Beothuks  or  Red  Indians 

of  Newfoundland  .  .  .,  Cambridge 
University  Press,  1915. 

6.  Mr  Howiey  (op.  cit.,  p.  xix)  in  his  intro- 

duction rather  indefinitely  favors  the 
theory  of  Athabascan  affinity.  He  says: 
"On  the  authority  of  the  late  Sir  Wil- 
liam Dawson  ...  a  tradition  existed 
among  the  Micmac  tribes  of  Nova  Scotia 
that  a  previous  people  occupied  that  ter- 
ritory whom  the  Micmacs  drove  out  and 
who  were  probably  allied  to  the  Tinne  or 
Chippewan  stock.  These,  he  thinks,  may 
have  passed  over  to  Newfoundland  and 
become  the  progenitors  of  the  Beothuks. 
This  supposition  appears  to  me  to  carry 
with  it  a  ccmsiderable  amount  of  proba- 


71 


AND    M  O  N  0  G  R  -^  P  H  S 


72 


BEOTHUK   AND    M I C M A C 


bility.  Here,  isolated  and  undisturbed 
for  several  centuries,  untainted  by  inter- 
mixture with  other  tribes,  they  could  re- 
tain all  their  original  traits  of  character, 
language,  etc.,  which  remained  with  them 
as  distinctive  features  down  to  the  last 

moments    of   their  existence 

Under  all  circumstances  surrounding 
this  mysterious  tribe,  we  must  only  fall 
back  upon  the  suggestion  of  Sir  William 
Dawson  as  the  most  plausible  theory  to 
account  for  their  presence  here." 

7.  The  derivation  of  this  term  is  not  clear  to 

the  informants,  beyond  the  plural  adjec- 
tival suffix — wi'ak.  In  the  Micmac 
names  here  given,  the  character  7  de- 
notes a  velar  voiced  sperant,  x  the  cor- 
responding surd. 

8.  Page  h)  oi  this  paper. 

9.  W.  H.  ^Mechling,  Malecite  Tales,  Anlhro- 

■pological  Series,  Geological  Survey  of 
Canada,  no.  4,  1914,  p.  65. 

10.  Ibid.,  p.  65,  footnote. 

11.  Howley,  op.  cit.,  p.  286. 

12.  See   also   S.   T.    Rand,   Dictionary   of   the 

Language  of  the  ^NI icmac  Indians,  1888, 
p.  215.  Howley  (op.  cit.,  pp.  284^6)  gives 
a  ]Micmac  tradition  from  Nova  Scotia 
relating  to  the  Beothuk.  C.  G.  Leland 
(Algonquin  Legends  of  New  England, 
Boston,  1885,  pp.  206-7),  in  commenting 
on  a  Passamaquoddy  tale  in  which  the 
wolverene  marries  a  red  woman  whose 
color  rubbed  off  when  she  was  touched, 
entertains    the    rather"  far-fetched    idea 


INDIAN    NOTES 


NOTES 


that  the  tale  referred  to  the  "Newfound- 
land Indians  covered  with  red  ochre." 

13.  Cf.  Howle}^  op.  cit.,  p.  30,  where  he  quotes 

Cartwright's  description. 

14.  These  fences  are  known  also  to  the  ^lon- 

tagnais  of  Labrador,  who  call  them 
nkrd'aga>ia'ck"'^',  and  were  used  by  the  New 
England  Indians.  Cf.  The  History  of 
Philip's  War,  ...  by  Thomas  Church,  Esq. 
.  .  .  with  an  appendix,  .  .  .  Samuel  G. 
Drake,  2nd  ed..  Exeter,  N.  H.,  1829,  p.  340. 

15.  Anecdotes  will  later  be  given.     Howley  (op. 

cit.,  pp.  91-2,  269,  271,  280)  refers  to 
this  activit}'^  on  the  part  of  the  Beothuk. 

16.  Resume  of  material  quoted  from  part  II  of 

this  volume. 

17.  The  same  omen  is  found  generally  through- 

out the  tribes  of  the  Wabanaki  group. 

18.  Rand,  op.  cit.,  p.  200.     An  almost  identical 

tale  among  the  Passamaquoddy  accounts 
for  the  hostility  between  them  and  the  Mo- 
hawk. (Cf.  J.  D.  Prince,  Passamaquoddy 
Documents,  Annals  of  N.  Y.  Academy 
of  Science,  1898,  vol.  xi,  no.  15,  p.  371.) 

19.  Several    historical    sources    agree    on    this 

point,  Cormack,  Howlej',  and  Jukes. 
Howley  (op.  cit.,  pp.  25-26)  quotes  a  tra- 
dition from  J.  B.  Jukes,  Excursions  in 
Newfoundland,  London,  1842,  p.  129. 

20.  Cf.    Howley,    op.    cit.,    pp.  29-30,  quoting 

Cartwright's  Journal.  Cartwright  de- 
scribes the  construction  of  the  square  or 
winter  camp  of  logs  placed  horizontally 
to  form  the  lower  part,  and  the  bark 
pyramidal    roof.     The    hoop,     he    says. 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


73 


74 


BEOTHUK   AND    MICMAC 


appear  near  the  top  of  the  roof.  The 
hoop  seems  to  be  a  feature  differentiating 
the  wigwam  construction  of  the  tribes  of 
the  Waban-  ki  and  M  ntag  ais  groups 
from  that  of  all  other  northern  peoples  of 
America.  Consult  also  Howley  (op.  cit., 
p.  245  and  sketch  vi),  who  mentions  this 
feature  of  construction. 

21.  Cf.   W.   C.   Orchard,   Notes  on   Penobscot 

Houses,  American  Anthropoloi^ist,  vol. 
II,  no.  4  (1909),  p.  602. 

22.  Howley,  op.  cit.,  pp.  31-33,  quotes  Cart- 

wright  in  full  and  also  gives  figures  of 
miniature  canoes  in  his  own  collection 
(pis.  XXXI,  xxxiv). 

23.  Cormack  in  his  Journal  says  that  the  Mic- 

mac  whom  he  met  in  the  interior  of  the 
island  told  him  that  the  Red  Indians  used 
skin  canoes  similar  to  their  own  (quoted 
by  Howley,  op.  cit.,  p.  152,  also  p.  213) 

24.  This   information   is   confirmed   by   Denys 

(1672),  who  describes  in  some  detail  the 
method  of  applying  the  colors.  (Cf. 
Nicholas  Denys,  The  Description  and 
Natural  History  of  the  Coasts  of  North 
America,  edition  of  the  Champlain 
Society,  Toronto,  1908,  by  W.  F.  Ganong; 
p.  411.)  Le  Clercq  mentions  the  same 
thing.  (Cf.  Chrestien  Le  Clercq,  New 
Relation  of  Gaspesia,  edition  of  the  Cham- 
plain  Society,  Toronto,  1910,  by  \V.  F. 
Ganong,  p.  96.) 

25.  Another  name  is  te'hu'Vk',  a  term  possibly  of 

English  origin,  from  "the  boots."  Cf. 
also  Rand,  Micmac  Dictionary,  p.  41. 


INDIAN    NOTES 


NOTES 


26.  Footwear  made  of  the  leg  skin  or  hock  of  the 

caribou  is  mentioned  as  a  characteristic 
of  the  Beothuk  (Howley,  op.  cit.,  pp. 
271,  322).  The  same  thing  is  common 
among  the  ^licmac  and  the  rest  o"f  the 
northern  and  eastern  Algonkian. 

27.  Rand    (Micmac    Dictionary,    p.    161)    has 

iiltdkld'giijid',  "loom,"  and  (p.  278) 
cltaktadgd,  "to  weave." 

28.  Mention  of  weaving  on  a  frame  was  made  by 

Nicholas  Denys  (1672),  op,  cit.  Rand 
(ilicmac-English  Dictionary,  p.  255) 
gives  uiskobooksoon,  "straps." 

29.  Rand   (Micmac  Dictionary,  p.  249)   gives 

mimitndd',  "to  spin  flax  on  a  little 
wheel." 

30.  F.  G.  Speck,  The  Double  Curve  Motive  in 

Northeastern  .\lgonkian  Art,  Geological 
Siirvev  of  Canada,  Anthropological  Series, 
no.  1,'  1914,  p.  11,  fig.  14. 

31.  Rand   (Micmac   Dictionary',   p.   201)   gives 

vwolsdud',  "pouch." 

32.  Howley  fop.  cit.,  p.  87)  reproduces  Cart- 

wright's  figure  of  a  Beothuk  snowshoe  in 
which  the  shape  and  proportions  are 
almost  identical  with  those  of  the  ordi- 
nary Micmac  article  used  on  the  island 
today  (see  pi.  xxiii).  The  dimensions 
of  the  Beothuk  shoe  are  given  as:  width 
15  inches,  body  3 5  feet,  tail  1  foot,  which 
are  about  the  same  as  those  of  the  speci- 
mens Just  referred  to. 

33.  For  these  terms  Rand  (op.  cit.,  p.  151)  gives 
udkagiin'igiin,  "crooked  knife,"  (p.  178) 


/:> 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


76 


BEOTHUK   AND    MIC MAC 


tadooigun,  "snowshoe  needle,"  and  sakiide, 
"needle." 

34.  For  these  implements  Rand  (Micmac  Dic- 

tionary, p.  129)  has:  iipskaoo,  "harpoon," 
shnoogivode,  "spear,"  and  negok,  "salmon 
spear"  (p.  246). 

35.  Supposedly  a-  corruption  of  French  panier. 

Rand  (Alicmac  Dictionary,  p.  31),  poota- 
lediid. 

36.  I  have  introduced  a  brief  treatment  of  the 

northward  spread  of  splint  basketry  in 
Decorative  Art  and  Basketry  of  the 
Cherokee,  Bulletin  of  the  Public  Museum 
of  Mikvaukee,  vol.  2,  no.  2,  1920. 

37.  Bark  vessels  and  baskets  were  common  Beo- 

thuk  manufactures  (Howley,  op.  cit.,  pp. 
249,  214  and  sketch  vii,  and  pi.  xxxi, 
xxxrv')-  The  types  and  details  of  stitch- 
ing are  the  same  as  in  the  ordinary  In- 
dian specimens.  In  the  Beothuk  names 
for  these  receptacles,  guinya  butt,  "water 
bucket"  (also  booch-moot,  "seal  stomach 
oil  bag"),  we  recognize  cognate  Algonkian 
— miut''  (Montagnais),-?;/"  (IMalecite),  and 
-udi  (Penobscot),  "receptacle." 

38.  Howley,  op.  cit.,  p.  340  and  pi.  xxv. 

39.  Quoting  John  Paul. 

40.  Article  on  Beothuk  in  Handbook  of  Ameri- 

can Indians,  Bulletin  30,  Bureau  of  Ameri- 
can Ethnology,  part  I,  p.  142. 

41.  This  negative  information  cannot  be  relied 

on,  as  several  accounts  contradict  one 
another  on  the  point.  Cf.  Howley  (pp. 
19-20),  quoting  Richard  Whitbourne,  A 
Discourse  a  d  Discoverv  of  the  Xewe- 


INDIAN    NOTES 


NOTES 


founde-launde,  London  1622,  and  also 
Howlev,  p.  221. 

42.  Bonnycastle,  R.  H.,  Newfoundland  in  1842 

(London,  1842).  Whatever  may  be  the 
tree  referred  to  by  this  unique  name,  it 
could  hardly  be  the  pine  of  the  region, 
Bank's  or  jack  pine.  All  northern  In- 
dians know  that  inner  birch  rind  and  even 
poplar  can  be  made  to  yield  a  little  nour- 
ishment in  times  of  famine,  but  seldom 
pine  bark. 

43.  Howley   (op.   cit.,  pp.   265-288)   records  a 

number  of  anecdotes,  some  of  which  might 
be  considered  as  variants  of  those  given 
here. 

44.  In  1801  Lieutenant  Buchan,  of  the  Royal 

Navy,  was  sent  to  the  River  Exploits  to 
^\'inter  there  and  to  open  communication 
with  the  Indians.  He  succeeded  in  find- 
ing a  part}-  of  them.  Inducing  two  of 
their  number  to  go  with  him  as  hostages, 
and  leaving  two  marines  with  the  Indians 
at  the  main  camp  as  a  pledge  of  good  faith, 
he  returned  to  his  depot  for  presents. 
During  his  absence  the  fears  of  the  Red  In- 
dians were  aroused,  lest  from  his  delay 
in  returning  he  might  bring  up  reinforce- 
ments with  a  view  of  capturing  them.  In 
the  meantime  one  of  the  two  Red  Indians 
took  fright  and  fled  back  to  the  main 
camp.  They  murdered  the  hostages  and 
fled  to  the  interior.  This  was  at  Red 
Indian  lake,  near  the  mouth  of  ^lary 
March  brook.  In  1819  a  female  was 
taken  by  a  party  of  trappers  on  Red  In- 


77 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


BEOTHUK   AND    MICMAC 


dian  lake.  Her  husband  was  with  her, 
and  having  offered  resistance  was  shot. 
The  leader  of  the  men  of  the  party  was 
named  Peyton.  The  woman  was  brought 
to  St  John's  and  was  named  Mary 
March,  from  the  month  in  which  she  was 
taken.  She  was  treated  with  kindness 
and  sent  back  to  her  friends  with  numer- 
ous presents,  but  died  on  the  voyage, 
having  been  suffering  for  some  time  with 
consumption.  Her  body  was  placed  in  a 
coffin  and  left  on  the  margin  of  the  lake, 
so  that  it  might  be  found  by  her  rela- 
tives. The  latter  conveyed  it  to  their 
burying  place  on  Red  Indian  lake,  where 
it  was  found  several  years  later  by  Cor- 
mack,  lying  beside  the  body  of  her  mur- 
dered husband. 

45.  John  Paul  had  been  a  headman  among  the 

Micmac-Montagnais  of  the  island  and 
was  particularly  well-informed  in  matters 
of  native  life.  His  age,  experience,  and 
wLlingness  to  help  in  this  work  made  him 
invaluable,  and  I  take  this  occasion  to 
recommend  him  to  others  who  maj'  under- 
take similar  studies  in  this  region  where 
the  younger  generation  of  natives  is  not 
well  informed  nor  conservative. 

46.  This  is  Red  Indian  point,  on  Red  Indian 

lake;  see  pi.  i-v.  A  larger  excavation 
than  the  others  at  this  site  is  pointed  out 
as  the  chief's  wigwam. 

47.  The  lumbermen  who  have  recently  invaded 

this  region  have  fortunately  spared  a  large 
spruce  tree  which  is  popularly  believed 


INDIAN    NOTES 


NOTES 


to  be  the  tree  under  which  Mary  March 
was  captured.  It  stands  on  a  sandy  point 
called  ^lary  March's  point,  and  archeo- 
logical  evidences  here  indicate  a  former 
camp.  This  tree,  which  is  now  (1914) 
in  danger  of  falling,  is  shown  in  pi.  v. 

48.  Previously  to  this  JMr  Howley  had    indi- 

cated in  a  letter  that  he  thought  the  in- 
formant was  making  her  claim  for  the 
purpose  of  gain. 

49.  Later,  in  the  following  spring,   ]Mr  R.   S. 

Dahl,  a  former  associate  of  Mr  Howley, 
who  was  also  deeply  interested  in  the 
Beothuk,  came  to  Philadelphia  to  see  me 
concerning  Santu.  When,  however,  he 
went  to  Attleboro  to  trace  them,  the 
family  had  left.  Since  then  Joe  Toney 
has  returned  irregularly  to  Gloucester, 
]\Iass.,  where  I  have  seen  him.  His 
mother  in  1916  had  returned  to  Yar- 
mouth, Nova  Scotia,  where  her  husband 
died  recently.  (Since  this  was  written  I 
have  heard  that  she  died  in  1919.) 

50.  Incidentallv,  Cope  is  a  common  family  sur- 

name among  the  Nova  Scotia  Micmac, 
see  page  103.  I  do  not  regard  this  infor- 
mation as  strictly  reliable. 

51.  We  recognize  in  this  the  common  craft  of 

the  Newfoundland  Micmac. 

52.  She  evidently  referred  to  the  curved  keel- 

son of  spruce  forming  the  ends. 

53.  Compare  Howley  (op.  cit.,  p.  322)  for  ref- 

erence to  stone  pipes. 

54.  The  common  Micmac  and  Wabanaki  game 

of  wal testa' y an. 


79 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


80 


BEOTHUK   AND    MICMAC 


55.  This  corresponds  with  the  Micmac  game  of 

wabsna'yan,  played  with  eight  ivo  y  discs, 
or  dice,  an  inch  in  diameter.  The  play- 
ers, who  may  be  of  any  number,  take 
turns  throwing  the  discs  upon  a  blanket. 
There  are  only  three  throws  that  count. 
A  throw  showing  two  discs  with  the  same 
side  up  counts  one  {ma'xtewi'  txamo'wi); 
one  only  facing  up  and  seven  opposite, 
count  five  {n'a'biteici'  txamo'wi).  Should 
a  player  throw  all,  flat  side  down  the  same 
way,  it  is  called  mi'ktcik  tciwa'wal, 
"turtle  eggs,"  and  wins  the  game.  The 
above  is  the  manner  in  which  it  is 
played  in  Cape  Breton. 

56.  Cormack  records  that  the  Beothuk  never 

washed  "except  when  a  husband  or  a  wife 
died"  (Howley,  p.  230). 


INDIAN    NOTES 


BEOTHUK  AND  MICMAC 

PART  II 

MICMAC  HUNTING  TERRITORIES 

IN   NOVA  SCOTIA  AND 

NEWFOUNDLAND 

BY 

FRANK  G.  SPECK 


II.     MICMAC  HUNTING  TERRI- 
TORIES IN  NOVA  SCOTIA 
AND  NEWFOUNDLAND 

By  Fraxk  G.  Speck 
introduction 


THE  subject  of  the  family  hunting 
territory  which  provides  the  key- 
note to  the  social  organization 
of  the  northern  and  eastern  Al- 
gonkian  tribes  has  become  by  this  time 
fairly  familiar  to  ethnologists,  first  through 
the  reports  of  surveys  which  I  have  so 
far  completed  for  the  Division  of  An- 
thropology of  the  Geological  Survey  of 
Canada  (by  whose  sanction  this  paper 
is  published),  and  later  through  the  hand- 
ling of  the  situation  as  a  sociological  phe- 
nomenon by  Dr.  R.  H.  Lowie  in  his  re- 
cent treatise.'  Xo  one  would  now  deny  that 
here  is  to  be  found  one  of  the  most  fundamen- 


83 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


84 


BEOTHUK   AND    MICMAC 


tal  properties  of  old  Algonkian  culture;  that 
here  is  an  exceedingly  primitive  group  show- 
ing the  developed  idea  of  established  geo- 
graphical claims.  And  of  still  more  impor- 
tance, it  has  become  apparent  that  in  this 
relatively  primitive  level,  patrilineality  oc- 
curs as  a  social  feature  chronologically  an- 
terior to  the  matrilineal  grouping,  and  even 
culturally  below  it.  The  general  applicabil- 
ity of  theories  of  social  evolution,  like  those 
of  Bachofen,  Morgan,  and  Hartland,  which 
insist  on  the  priority  of  the  matrilineal 
grouping,  are  destined  to  assume  a  more  and 
more  dubious  aspect  as  intensive  exploration 
proceeds  into  the  social  life  of  hitherto 
little-known  and  loosely  organized  tribes. 
It  remains,  therefore,  as  a  most  urgent 
task  to  prosecute  the  survey  of  the  prim- 
itive nomadic  tribes  of  the  Hudsonian  and 
Arctic  zones  for  the  full  census  of  those 
whose  social  organization  is  based  on  the 
paternal  family  and  who  observe  the 
family  hunting  territorial  divisions.  When 
this  has  been  done,  speculations  may  be 
expected  to  take  a  more  final  form.  There 
are  still  large  areas  to  traverse  and  to  map 


INDIAN    NOTES 


INTRODUCTION 


85 


out,  and  there  are  varied  types  of  social 
structure  to  be  analyzed,  in  which  minor 
developments  have  appeared  and  become 
associated  with  the  territorial  units.  In  the 
accompanying  report,  the  hunting  group  is 
traced  in  the  maritime  provinces  eastward 
to  the  Atlantic,  thus  covering  one  more 
large  area  in  the  gradual  spread  of  our 
knowledge.  Surveys  are  already  partially 
completed  for  the  region  lying  from  Lake 
Waswanipi  in  northern  Quebec  southward 
to  the  St  Lawrence  and  eastward  to  Port- 
neuf  river. 

In  some  parts  of  this  zone  there  are  spe- 
cific variations.  Among  the  Ojibwa,  for 
instance,  a  strong  feature  is  the  interasso- 
ciation  of  the  biological  family  group  with 
the  patrilineal  exogamic  gens.  Among  the 
Montagnais  the  absence  of  the  gens  is 
noteworthy,  but  the  development  of  the 
geographical  feature  stands  forth  in  the  dis- 
trict names.  At  Penobscot  there  is  the  as- 
sociation of  family  ancestry  with  animals, 
approaching  the  idea  of  the  so-called  "use 
totem,"  discussed  by  Rivers  and  Golden- 
weiser.     Our  present  case  shows  the  IVlic- 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


86 

BEOTHUK   AND    MIC MAC 

mac  to  present  little  to  mark  their  form  of 
the  institution  with   distinctive  emphasis. 
Here  the  family  territories  seem  to  be  less 
permanent,  less  hereditary,  than  elsewhere, 
and  the  judicial  power  of  the  chief  in  the 
reassignment  of  territory  seems  to  be  rather 
more  definite.     In  other  respects  a  compari- 
son of  the  INIicmac  hunting  territory  insti- 
tution with  that  of  neighboring  tribes  seems 
to  show  an  absence  of  specialization  in   the 
case  of  the  former. 

HUNTING  TERRITORIES  IN  NOVA  SCOTIA 

The  Micmac,  like  the  rest  of  the  northern 
and  eastern  Algonkian,   whose   subsistence 
was  gained   by  hunting   and  fishing,   had 
their  country  subdivided  into  more  or  less 
well  recognized  districts  in  which  certain 
individual  proprietors  or  families  enjoyed 
the  inherited  privilege  of  hunting.     Having 
alread}^  made  this  matter  the  subject  of  in- 
vestigations during  several  seasons  among 
the      Montagnais,      Mistassini,      northern 
Ojibwa,  Algonquin,  and  the  Penobscot  and 
Abnaki  of  the  east,  I   spent  part  of  the 
summer  of  1914  in  visiting  the  settlements 

INDIAN    NOTES 

NOVA    SCOTIA 

87 

of  the  iMicmac  of  Xova  Scotia,  Cape  Bre- 
ton, and  Newfoundland,  to  make  collateral 
studies  among  the  most  easterly  branches  of 
the  Algonkian   stock.     The  social  organi- 
zation of  this  people  is  also  characterized 
by  a  grouping  into  hunting  families,  and 
it  also  shows  the  second  associated  feature; 
it  is  extremely  loose  in  general.     The  results 
of  my  survey  are  presented  in  this  paper. 

It  should  be  remembered  by  anyone  tak- 
ing up  this  subject  of  family  groupings  and 
territorial    claims    from     the    sociological 
point  of  view,  that,  in  contrast  with  the 
north  central   Algonkians  (Ojibwa,  Algon- 
quin), there  is  no  intercrossing  among  the 
]Micmac  of  a   clan    organization  with  the 
family  group.     Neither  exogamy  nor  other 
elements  of  group  totemism  are  now  found 
here     as    among    the   Ojibwa,    Algonquin, 
or  even  the  Penobscot,  who  have  indeed 
some  semblance  of  the  animal  totemic  group 
formation  manifested  in  such  phenomena  as 
family  explanation  myths,  group  naming, 
emblems,  and  a  certain  social  identity  within 
the    group.     It    is    true    of    the    IMicmac 
throughout,  so  far  as  I  could  learn,  that  the 

AND    MONOGRAPHS 

BEOTHUK   AND    MIC MAC 


family  groups  and  their  hunting  territories, 
whether  held  by  the  group  in  common  or  by 
individuals,  are  found  to  rest  on  a  purely 
economic  basis,  with  no  sociological  phe- 
nomenon other  than  kinship  involved.^ 

We  are  fortunate  in  having  several  notices 
of  the  existence  of  the  hunting  territory  in 
Father  Le  Clercq's  time  (1691),  which  not 
only  authenticate  the  matter  among  the 
IMicmac  but  which  give  a  fair  summary  of 
characteristics.  It  is  necessary  that  Le 
Clercq  be  quoted. 

"It  is  the  right  of  the  head  of  the  nation 
according  to  the  customs  of  the  country,  which 
serve  as  laws  and  regulations  to  the  Gaspesians, 
to  distribute  the  places  of  hunting  (les  endroils 
de  la  chasse)  to  each  individual.  It  is  not  per- 
mitted to  any  Indian  to  overstep  the  bounds 
and  limits  of  the  region  {d' outre- passer  les 
homes  et  les  limiles  du  quartier)  which  shall 
have  been  assigned  to  him  in  the  assembly  of 
the  elders.  These  are  held  in  autumn  and  in 
spring  expressly  to  make  this  assignment."^ 

Le  Clercq  also  speaks  of  the  territories  in 
another  place,  using  the  expression,  "The 
occupation  of  this  chief  was  to  assign  the 
places  for  hunting  {de  regler  les  lieux  de 
chasse)."^    It   is  important  to    note  that 


INDIAN    NOTES 


NOVA    SCOTIA 


89 


among    the    Indians    who    use    Canadian 
French  today,   the  designations  "lieux  de 
chasse"  and  "endroits  de  la  cliasse"  are  the 
same. 
Again  the  same  author  tells  us: 

"The  most  important  places  for  fishing  and 
hunting  are  marked  by  the  crosses  which  they 
set  up  in  the  vicinity,  and  one  is  agreeably  sur- 
prised in  voyaging  through  this  country  to  find 
from  time  to  time  upon  the  borders  of  the  rivers 
crosses  with  double  and  triple  cross-pieces  like 
those  of  the  patriarchs."^ 

Any  question  as  to  the  antiquity  or  the 
nativity  of  the  institution  we  are  interested 
in  among  the  Micmac  is  decisively  met  by 
these  statements.  Nicholas  Denys,  who 
wrote  about  IMicmac  customs  nineteen  years 
earlier  than  Le  Clercq,  does  not,  however, 
refer  specifically  to  it,  although  he  speaks 
briefly  of  the  conservation  of  the  game  which 
is  often  an  accompanying  feature. 

"They  killed  the  animals  only  in  proportion 
as  they  had  need  of  them.  When  they  were 
lirtd  of  eating  one  sort,  they  killed  some  of 
another."* 

The  Micmac  family  group  seems  to  have 
possessed  a  rather  unstable  character.     It 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


90 


B  E  0 1 H  U  K   AND    M  I  C  M  A  C 


consisted  of  the  father  of  the  family,  his 
wife  and  children,  and  other  members  of  his 
own  kin  who,  through  individual  circum- 
stances, might  be  left  to  his  support.  Gen- 
erally the  family  included  the  living  grand- 
parents, and  frequently  aunts,  uncles,  and 
even  relatives  by  marriage.  Accordingly, 
the  content  of  the  group  changed  as  the 
children  became  married  and  left,  or  in- 
creased as  bereaved  relatives  were  added. 
It  was  a  common  practice  for  a  man  to 
join  his  father-in-law's  family  for  a  time 
after  marriage  among  the  Micmac  as  well 
as  among  the  other  northern  tribes  covered 
so  far  by  the  investigation.  The  Micmac 
newly-married  man  generally  did  this  unless 
local  conditions  made  another  course  advis- 
able. After  a  year  or  so  with  his  father-in- 
law,  he  was  expected  to  set  up  a  new 
domestic  establishment  on  hunting  grounds 
acquired  through  reapportionment  or  inher- 
itance, or  else  to  settle,  should  circum- 
stances be  favorable,  on  part  of  the  patri- 
monial territory  under  his  own  identity  or 
that  of  his  father.     The  family  unit  was. 


INDIAN    NOTES 


NOVA    SCOTIA 


91 


in  respect  to  its  membership,  judging  from 
all  sources,  an  exceedingly  variable  quantity. 
A  side-light  is  thrown  upon  another  social 
aspect  of  the  early  IMicmac  by  Le  Clercq 
which  shows  that  here,  as  elsewhere  in  the 
wide  area  where  the  family  band  with  its 
hunting  territory  takes  the  place  of  the 
clan  or  gentile  unit,  numerical  strength 
of  the  family  counts  for  something  in  de- 
termining social  position.  Le  Clercq  says, 
in  speaking  of  chiefs  or  leaders: 

"We  had  among  us  at  the  River  of  St  Joseph 
[the  Restigouche]  one  of  these  old  chiefs  whom 
our  Gaspesians  considered  as  their  head  and 
their  ruler,  much  more  because  of  his  family 
which  was  very  numerous,  than  because  of  his 
sovereign  power."  " 

This  material  puts  a  very  simplified  aspect 
on  the  family  institution  here,  in  contrast 
with  the  greater  compliexitj'  prevailing  among 
the  Algonkian  farther  west.  It  is  difticult 
to  form  an  opinion  yet  as  to  whether  the 
simplicity  is  a  sign  of  archaism  or  of  degener- 
ated culture  in  comparison  with  the  other 
Algonkian.  Since  I  hope  to  pursue  the  in- 
vestigation of  this  institution  through  the 
whole  habitat  of  the  northern  hunting  tribes, 


AND     MONOGRAPHS 


92 


BEOTHUK   AND    MIC MAC 


if  the  opportunity  offers,  we  may  leave  the 
discussion  of  the  question  until  more  is 
known  of  the  facts,  and  proceed  directly  to 
the  material  as  it  presents  itself  among 
the  Micmac. 

In  Nova  Scotia  I  procured  data  covering 
nearly  the  whole  peninsula.  The  portion 
not  covered  is  the  extreme  southwestern 
part  of  the  peninsula,  the  habitat  of  the 
Yarmouth  band,  which  I  did  not  visit 
The  hunting  territory  is  known  here  as 
Uig^l'wo'mi,  derived  from  a  verb  meaning 
"to  hunt."  The  districts  generally  sur- 
round lakes  or  rivers.  They  were  trans- 
mitted from  father  to  son,  but  where  there 
were  no  sons  to  inherit  a  region  it  was 
allotted  to  someone  else.  Ordinarily  the 
assignment  of  hunting  districts  was  left  to 
the  authority,  of  the  band  chief.  ^ 

The  hunters  of  a  certain  region  had  a 
common  rendezvous,  generally  near  the 
coast  where,  on  occasion,  generally  in  the 
summer,  they  assembled  with  their  families 
for  social  intercourse.  At  such  times  mar- 
riages were  arranged,  and  meetings  held 
which  resulted  in  solidifying  the  group  into 


INDIAN    NOTES 


NOVA    SCOTIA 


93 


something  of  a  band.  These  bands  and 
their  gathering  places  at  the  present  time 
have  grown  into  the  local  groups  which  are 
found  all  through  the  province  on  small 
reservations.  It  may  be  added  that  Bear 
River  seems  to  have  been  a  kind  of  capital 
village  for  the  bands  in  the  southwestern 
part  of  the  province,  and  Shubenacadie 
another  for  the  central  part.  The  bands, 
comprising  the  localized  famil_y  groups  (see 
Map  I),  collectively  form  the  Micmac  tribe 
or  nation,  the  capital  village  of  which  is 
now,  as  it  has  been  for  a  very  long  time,  at 
Eskasoni  on  Cape  Breton  island.^ 

The  family  hunting  districts  of  Nova 
Scotia  with  their  proprietors'  names  appear 
in  the  accompanying  table,  the  numbers  in 
the  first  column  corresponding  with  those 
on  the  map.  I  may  say  that  I  could 
not  very  well  verify  a  large  percentage 
of  the  districts,  since  this  would  have 
required  a  personal  visit  to  each  family  head 
in  the  province.  '  However,  this  was  done 
where  it  was  possible.  Hence,  being  lim- 
ited largely  to  material  collected  from  cer- 
tain informants,  chief  among  whom  were 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


94 


BEOTHUK    AND    MI CM AC 


John  Brooks  and  John  ]\IcEwan  of  Bear 
River,  and  Jacob  Brooks  of  Truro,  I  have 
probably  committed  some  errors,  even 
though  the  individuals  relied  on  were  well- 
informed  leaders.  Moreover,  the  settle- 
ment of  the  province  by  the  English  has 
encroached  on  many  of  the  old  hunting  dis- 
tricts, and  some  of  the  proprietors  have  been 
dead  so  long  that  it  is  a  matter  of  question 
as  to  their  boundaries  even  among  the  old- 
est men  living.  Another  fact  to  be  observed 
is  that  the  boundaries  of  the  family  tract 
in  general  among  the  Micmac  were  not 
so  strictly  recognized  as  elsewhere;  nor 
were  they  marked  by  boundary  signs,  as 
among  the  Penobscot.  It  seems  to  suffice 
if  the  main  body  of  water  or  the  general 
center  of  the  hunting  districts  is  known,  the 
Hne  of  separation  between  neighbors  being 
a  general  line  somewhere  about  half-way 
between  the  main  central  landmarks.  Re- 
taliation against  trespassing  was  not  regu- 
larly enforced  among  the  INIicmac. 

The  INIicmac  country,  according  to  An- 
derson,^°  was  divided  into  seven  districts, 
"each  having  its  own  chief,  but  the  chief 


INDIAN    NOTES 


NOVA    SCOTIA 

95 

of  the  Cape  Breton  district  was  looked  upon 
as  head  of  the  whole.  From  Cape  Breton 
three  districts  stretched  to  the  right,  Pic- 
tou,  Memramcook,  Restigouche,  and  three 
to  the  left,  Eskegawaage,  from  Canso  to 
Halifax;  Sigunikt,  or  Shubenacadie,  named 
from  Cape  Chignecto;  and  Kaspoogwit,  or 
AnnapoHs,  named  from  Cape  Negro." 

This  author  gives  Rand's  interpretation 
of  these  names  in  various  parts  of  his  report, 
as  follows:  Pictou,  "an  explosion,  crepitus 
ventris"  (p.  69);  Memramcook, ''variegated 
landscape"  (p.  14);  Restigouche,  "a  dead 
tree"  (p.  41).  This  name  has  been  ex- 
plained in  a  number  of  ways  by  different 
authors.  One  very  interesting  tale  of  expla- 
nation has  been  recently  published  by 
Father  Pacifique  in  the  Micmac  Messenger, 
but,  unfortunately  for  ethnology,  it  is  given 
only  in  ^Micmac.  Eskegawaage  is  "  the  skin- 
dressing  place"  (p.  27);  Sigunikt,  "a  foot 
cloth,  moccasin  rag"  (p.  22) ;  and  Kaspoogwit, 
"land's  end,"  referring  to  Cape  Sable  and 
Cape  Negro  (p.  35). 

Indications  appear  from  time  to  time  in 
the  older  writings  concerning  the  tribes  of 

A  N  D    MONO  G  R  A  P  H  S 

96         BEOTHUKANDMICMAC 


this  part  of  the  country  to  show  that  ani- 
mals were  frequently  employed  as  symbolic 
emblems  representing  different  bodies  of 
population.  It  is  difficult,  when  we  en- 
counter such  references,  to  decide  whether 
they  are  to  be  understood,  from  a  critical 
point  of  view,  as  the  emblems  of  former 
gentile  or  of  family  groups,  or  whether  they 
pertain  to  bands  and  tribes  in  the  social 
or  linguistic  sense.  Father  LeClercq  made 
note  of  the  observation  that  the  Indians  at 
Miramichi  had  the  figure  of  a  cross  as  their 
emblem,  while  at  Restigouche  the  salmon 
figured  in  the  same  way.  He  said  that  each 
band  had  its  local  symbol.^^  Dr  Ganong, 
who  edited  LeClercq's  work,  adds  that  he 
learned  further  that  the  main  southwestern 
division  of  the  Micmac  had  a  sturgeon,  the 
Uttle  southwestern  division  had  a  beaver, 
and  the  northwestern  division  of  the  tribe 
had  the  figure  of  a  man  with  a  drawn  bow 
and  arrow  as  distinguishing  emblems. ^'^ 

For  example  again,  we  find  in  the  picto- 
graphy of  the  Wabanaki,  according  to  Mal- 
lery,  who  evidently  secured  the  information 
himself,  that  the  Passamaquoddy  are  rep- 


INDIAN    NOTES 


NOVA   SCOTIA 


97 


resented  by  the  figure  of  two  men  in  a  canoe 
following  a  pollock,  both  men  using  pad- 
dles;*^ the  iMalecite  by  the  two  men  in  a 
canoe  both  using  poles  and  following  a 
muskrat;^^  the  ]Micmac  by  the  canoemen, 
both  with  paddles,  following  a  deer;  and 
the  Penobscot  by  a  figure  showing  the 
canoemen  using  pole  and  paddle  following 
an  otter.  In  giving  this  information  Mal- 
lery  adds  that  he  thinks  the  several  animals 
constitute  ancient  totemic  emblems. ^^  In- 
cidentally, this  afi^ords  us  another  instance 
of  the  "game  totem"  idea  which  is  quite 
distinctive  of  the  northeastern  region,  if  not 
particularly  true  of  the  ]\licmac.  It  is  not  by 
any  means  clear,  drawing  our  ideas  from  this 
and  other  cases  which  have  been  recorded 
among  the  eastern  tribes,  how  we  are  to 
proceed  in  classifying  them '  as  being  the 
totemic  concepts  of  major  or  of  minor  social 
groups.  Whether  we  are  to  regard  them 
as  family  or  as  tribal  emblems,  the  general 
fact  of  the  game-totem,  or  use-totem,  concept 
remains  established  as  a  feature  having  a 
place  in  the  social  life  of  at  least  some  of  the 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


98 


BEOTHUK   AND    MIC MAC 


members  of  the  group  of  tribes  to  which  the 
Micmac  belong. ^^ 

The  Micmac  have  been  reported  by  trav- 
elers a  number  of  times  as  being  very  capa- 
ble map-makers,  utihzing  birch-bark  for  the 
purpose  of  charting  not  only  travel  routes 
but  hunting  territories  as  well.  Concrete 
instance  of  this  is  afforded  by  information 
furnished  by  Miss  Massey  of  Philadelphia, 
who  states  that  in  1885  she  knew  of  a  case 
at  Digby,  Nova  Scotia,  where  a  chief  who 
was  then  about  sixty  years  of  age  exhibited 
a  birch-bark  map  of  his  hunting  territory 
during  a  trial  in  court  to  prove  his  inherited 
claim  to  the  same.^^  A  map  of  birch-bark 
of  the  land  of  the  IMicmac  is  mentioned  as 
having  been  given  to  a  hero  in  one  of  the 
legends  recorded  by  Rand.^^  Le  Clercq  was 
the  earliest  author,  so  far  as  is  known,  to 
have  made  explicit  mention  of  these  charts 
among  the  Micmac.     He  says: 

"They  have  much-  ingenuity  in  drawing 
upon  bark  a  kind  of  map  which  marks  exactly 
all  the  rivers  and  streams  of  a  country  of  which 
they  wish  to  make  representation.  They  mark 
all  the  places  thereon  exactly  and  so  well  that 


INDIAN    NOTES 


NOVA    SCOTIA 


99 


the}'  make  use  of  them  successfully,  and  an 
Indian  who  possesses  one  makes  long  voyages 
without  going  astray.''^" 


'^'a. 


Fig.  3. — Hunting  territory  of  Solomon  Siah,  Micmacof 
Bear  river,  Xova  Scotia.  (After  a  drawing  by  his  grand- 
son.; 


AND    :\IONOGRAPHS 


100 

BEOTHUK   AND    MICMAC 

<: 
(—1 

H 
O 

< 
> 

o 

H 

1 

1-1 
< 
O 

z 

H 

z 

< 

a 

< 

> 

< 

West  branch  of  Bear  river  to  Lake 

Jolly. 
Mulgrave  lake   neighborhood    (see 

fig.  3). 
Around  Sporting  lake,  southwest  of 

Bear  river. 
Moosehcad  and  Pine  lakes. 
Pine  lake  and  Cofang  lake. 
Long  Tusket  and  Fourth  lakes. 
Barriyo  and  Spruce  lakes. 
Shelbourne  lakes. 
East  side  of  Rossignol  lake. 
West  side  of  Rossignol  lake. 

o 

ti 

e< 
o 
ej 

Ph 

F« 
O 

< 

1 

Jim     Meuse      {Sa''y€m, 
"chief"  of  this  band). 
John  Siah  {Sa''ya). 

Ben  Pictou. 

Abram  Labrador. 

Joe  Pcnhall. 

John  Barriyo. 

Christopher  Charles. 

John  Louis. 

Joe  Maltai  and  father 

Old  Joe  Maltai. 

•rt          P-l         fO         •^LCCt--XO\ 

INDIAN    NOTES 

NOVA   SCOTIA 


S       "^ 


y     CJ 


.— •  U) 


"2    5 

^ 

G, 

c  -x. 

rt 

-^3 

.>'^ 

^ 
rt 

^    o 

C 

H-1   j2 

^ 

o     « 

X  -^ 

^ 

0^       CO 

^ 

s  ° 

•1^  = 

a, 

^  s 

Id 

^       b       0) 


ui     S    i>     <-i 


Uh 


, 

.. 

^ 

•^ 

o 

o      . 

(T) 

^*^ 

« 

?• 

•5  o 

1 

« 

^ 

D 

.r*  :^ 

O 

,tJ 

■-1 

tn 

cT 

c 

o 

>> 

d 

o 
1^ 

u< 

-s:§ 

^ 

r^ 

3 

^ 

n 

"o5 

« 
■o 

C 

o 

3 

■fi 

'3 

o 

^3 

C 

.^'■ 

o 

^  ^ 

O 

■>> 

-^ 

u 

o 

u, 

O     i-H 

c 

o 

- 

C 

o 

I-] 

U-i 

'^ 

^— > 

>— > 

c^. 

^ 

101 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


102 

BEOTHUK    AND    MIC MAC 

"o 

m 

i-> 

aj 

-7^* 

rt 

& 

O          •'^ 

'^          !r, 

.S      =    . 

t;  CIS     P  x^ 

i 

a 

ise  lakes, 
usie  lake  and  h 
housie  river. 
■  La  Have  river, 
reek  and  Sand  ri 
reau  lakes. 

south  of  Windso 
ok  and  Caribou 
near  Chester. 
i  lake  below  Mt 
iticook  river  valh 

< 
n 

Parad 
Dalho 
Dal 
Upper 
Millc 
Gaspe 

Q 
'A 
< 
pq 

Lakes 
Ponho 
Lakes 
Uniacl 
Kcnnc 

M 

« 

!3 

O 

oi 

o 

U2 

o 

fti 

B 

H 

< 

^ 

H 

:s 

• 

[— t- 

S 

g 

;^ 

Ph 

o 

< 

tH 

'■i 

Oj 

&I 

1      .        1        .^• 

— •       c 

(4 

o  D      2  -  t; 

■S.B-S   «   tn 

o 

ffio      -^-^  o 

g=  £.^'>:: 

s>-  ^s^ 

^ ':?  ^  §  .S 

< 

^^     ^K^ 

.^^'^"4;'^ 

^ 

Step; 

Loui 
Abe 
Ellic 

,t^    r^      O      O      O 

•z 

o 

Ci  p, 

s  < 

J^  00         Cn  O  —< 

fsj  rrj  ^  I/-,  O 

Is 

_  ^          T^  CN  CN 

CN  CN  tN  CN  CN 

2: 

INDIAN    I 

COTES 

NOV 

A    SCOTIA 

103 

V. 

a 
z 

5 
5 

1 

Q 
Z 

< 

3 

Q 

z 

3 

Stewiacke  river  valley. 
Musquodoboit  river  between  Mid- 
<lle  Musquodoboit  and  Musquo- 

doboit. 
North  of  Ship  Harbor  lake,  Gould 

lake 
North  of  Jeddore. 
Northeast  of  Jeddore. 

Cirassy  lake  north  of  Killag  river. 
ve  belonged  to  Pauls.) 

Tangier  lake  and  Scraggy  lakes. 
Hunting  lake.  Governor's  lake,  and 

Ten  Mile  lake. 
Fifteen  Mile  lake.  Rocky  lake. 
Moser  river. 
Large     district     north     of     Sheet 

harbor. 

d 

a 

l1 

c  c 

,'-    O 

c 
o 

Joe  Cope. 

Young  Toe  Cope  (son  of 

No.  30). 
Andrew  Paul 
(Territory  supposed  to  ha 
Sandy  Cope.     " 
•Frank  Cope. 

Peter  Joe  Cope.      . 
Michael  Tom  (Toney). 
Young  Peter  Joe  Cope. 

OS 

/VXD 

MONOGRAPHS 

104 

BEOTHUK 

AND    MI CM AC 

1 

-o 

o        3 

c 

jj 

J2                        k-l 

J5 

HJ      . 

^^         f^ 

tH 

■^u 

^  o 

;aacs    ha 
ar  Port 

S 

3 

u 

S 

3 
C 

•^  o 

1 

(UXJ'T^ 

!_r         *^ 

'C 

p 

C 
O 

u 

i 

mb  lak 
lake  an 
oin,  ba< 

harbo: 
rth. 

igc  rive 

c 

rt 
o     . 

Q 
Z 

< 

« 

o 

B 

< 

Big  Lisco 
Hunting 
Lake  Mo 

n 
z 

M 
O 

Country 

and  no 

Loon  lak( 

Mill  Vilk 

grave. 

Q 

z 

< 

CA3 

1 

"rt 

o 
o 

as. 

W 

n 

-C 

n 

g 

"o 

< 

en 

o 

< 

U3 

G 
Z 
< 

< 

thew  Salome. 
Paul. 

■am  Paul  (son 
2). 

veil  Denis. 

ve  Malone. 
er     Anthony 
reed). 

z 
w 

=2  s.s<^ 

O 
1— > 

tfl 

2 

o 

OS  a. 

o\  o--^ 

rN      rrs-rv 

"u^ 

<r>  'S'^ 

TT         '^  <* 

-* 

INDIi 

\N    NOTES 

NOVA    SCOTIA 

105 

1    l:  4?  >^  rt  c 

b  g-.-      "" 

•sag's  >^ 

^  S  (fl'S  5 

O  •—    'J  .^ 

*j  t;  ^  li*— 

(U  'w        >-. 

o          o          «J 

Sh 

nally 

wher 

and 

Cop 

liood    of 
me  origi 
island> 
rritory, 
rom  the 
cotia.) 

^     5     ■"  5 

Q 

< 

n 

^ 

« 

o 

ca 

Pi 

< 

H 

H 

H 

a 

■u 

c/^ 

3 
o 
O 

S 

2 
< 

o 

-»> 

AND    MONOGRAPHS 

106 

BEOTHUK   AND    MIC MAC 

In  the  nature  of  a  correspondence  with 
this  it  may  be  added  that  the  same  practice 
of  charting  territories  and  trails  on  rolls  of 
birch-bark  is  a  pronounced  feature  among 
the  Montagnais.  A  number  of  such  maps 
have  been  obtained  by  the  writer  for  the 
Victoria  Museum  and  the  American  Mu- 
seum of  Natural  History. 

A  more  precise  example  of  one  of  the 
more  definite  hunting  claims  is  furnished 
by  the  sketch  on  page  99  (fig.  3),  which 
is  a  copy  of  a  sketch-map  made  by  John 
McEwan,  of  the  Bear  River  band,  showing 
the  hunting  territory  of  his  maternal  grand- 
father Siah  (Sa''ya)  around  Mulgrave  lake. 
There  his  lake  and  his  river  are  shown,  also 
the  several  stations  or  camps  in  the  districts, 
marked  with  crosses,  where  he  resided  while 
hunting  in  the  neighborhood.  This  speci- 
men district  is  number  2  on  Map  I.-° 

HUNTING  TERRITORIES  IN  CAPE 
BRETON  ISLAND 

The  Micmac  on  the  island  of  Cape  Breton 
form  now  about  the  most  conservative  group 

INDIAN    NOTES 

CAPE    BRETON    ISLAND 

107 

of    this    widely    distributed    tribe.     Here, 
furthermore,  is  the  seat  of  native  govern- 
ment and  the  residence  of  the  Grand  Chief 
{ktci'sa'yamaii)  who  has  control  of  all  the 
Micmac  bands  from  Newfoundland  to  Nova 
Scotia   and   Quebec.    The  island  of   Cape 
Breton  is  called  Uiiama'gP^  and  the  peo- 
ple style  themselves  Uname'wax.     They  in- 
habit six  fairly  large  settlements  having  a 
population  of  604  in  1911;  one,  the  capital  of 
the  Micmac,  is  at  Eskasoni,  where  John 
Denys,  the  Grand  Chief,  lives;  others  are 
at   Wycogamagh,  Middle  River,    Malaga- 
watch,    and    Chapel    Island    respectively, 
while  the  last,  dating  back  only  50  years  or 
so,   is   in    the  outskirts   of   Sydney.     This 
interesting  band  still  preserves  its  national 
existence  and  the  records  of  its  alliance  with 
the  Mohawk.     The  former  intertribal  nego- 
tiations with  the  Iroquois  at  Caughnawaga 
and  the  ceremonial  procedures  with  wam- 
pum are  still  distinctly  remembered. 

According  to  the  historical  tradition  of 
this  band,  it  seems  that  before  the  middle  of 
the  eighteenth  century  the  Micmac  popu- 
lation of  Cape  Breton  was  inconsiderable. 

AND    MONOGRAPHS 

108 

BEOTHUK    AND    MI  CM AC 

After  the  close  of  the  war  between  France 
and  England  for  supremacy    in  Canada, 
the  many  Micmac  who  had  been  engaged 
on  the  side  of  the  French,  instead  of  return- 
ing directly  to  their  former  homes  in  Nova 
Scotia  and  New  Brunswick,   turned  east- 
ward and 'occupied  new  hunting  territories 
in  the  sparsely  settled  island  of  Cape  Bre- 
ton.   Here,  too,  they  felt  themselves  to  be 
farther  away  from   possible  vengeance  of 
the  English,  who  were  settled  in  Nova  Sco- 
tia.    This  movement  was  led  by  the  chief, 
Tomah    Denys    of    Cumberland     county, 
Nova  Scotia,  who  headed  the  Indians  under 
the  French  at  the  battle  of  Quebec  in  1759 
and    returned    with    them    to    Louisburg. 
Assuming  this  tradition  to  be  fairly  correct, 
as   alleged  by   Chief  John    Denys,    great- 
grandson  of  Tonah  Denys,  the  hereditary 
successor  to  his  office,  it  would  appear  that 
the  hunting  territories  in  the  island  must 
have  suffered  some  minor  alterations  with 
the  increase  of  the  Micmac  population  sub- 
sequent to  1759.     Such  changes  are,  how- 
ever, taking  place  slowly  all  the  time,  as 
territories   change   hands   oftentimes   with 

INDIAN    NOTES 

CAPE    BRETON   ISLAND 


109 


the  death  of  proprietors.  A  knowledge  of 
these  districts  through  a  continuous  period 
of  time  would  be  ver\-  desirable  to  determine 
the  nature  of  such  changes  as  regard  size 
and  ownership.  As  may  be  seen  by  refer- 
ence to  the  map,  the  territories  are  more 
numerous  and  more  compact  in  the  southern 
portion  of  the  island,  while  in  the  northern 
and  eastern  extremities  the  family  tracts 
are  more  extensive  in  area  and  fewer  in 
number.  This  condition  corresponds  in 
general  with  the  conditions  in  Newfound- 
land; by  analogy,  I  am  inclined  to  attribute 
it  to  comparative  recency  of  occupancy. 
This  is  actually  the  case  in  Newfoundland. 
It  must  be  recognized,  nevertheless,  that 
the  Cape  Breton  band  has  been  domiciled 
long  enough  in  the  island  to  have  localized 
some  episodes  in  the  career  of  the  culture- 
hero,  Gluskap,-'  which  is  apparently  not  the 
case  in  Newfoundland. 

After  this  historical  digression  let  us 
proceed  with  the  actual  data  concerning 
the  hunting  territories  of  the  band.  In 
Cape  Breton  the  family  clainis  are  known 
as  ntuy^l'wx'mi.     In  practically  all  respects 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


110 


BEOTHUK   AND    MICMAC 


tl 


•:     o 


f0 


^  -^  a 

_    <U  >-c 

rt   tn  5     . 

,13    i^  O    t« 

Qj  H      *"* 


4-1      O 


H 


3  2- 

H   aj     • 

>-     IH     <u 

o 

t3    C    '^ 

CJ3 


►le ' 


O 


2  rt 


&:3 

IS 


o     . 

^:&Hq 

3 

1 

sGa 
u'i'd 
ittle 

TO 

.2  ^ 

•3^r 

o 
h4 

INDIAN    NOTES 


CAPE 

BRETON   ISLAND 

111 

Sula''yadck\    "flat 
at  the  end  of  a 
gorge." 

"little  channel." 

Kitnmdeive'gade, 
"rocky  head." 

Ma'skwesa''yami- 
kek,  "many  little 
birches." 

(?) 

(?) 

Weyo'yamaye, 
"head  of  the 
lake." 

Mira  river  and   bay 
to  Indian  bay. 

East  bay  to  Sydney 
river. 

Sydney  harbor  to 
Little  Bras  d'Or. 

South  shore  of  St 
Andrew's  channel. 

lona  island. 

River   Denny   basin 

westward. 
Wycogamagh  bay  to 

lake  Ainslie. 

Sam    Denys,    Joe 
Moose,      Plans- 
way  Moose. 

Tomaii  Denys 
(family  with  hc- 

rcduary     chicl- 
tainship). 
John  Isaac. 

Captain      Francis 
Bernard.2^ 

Michel  Joe  (Mi'sel 
da'di'at',  "smart 
Michel"). 

Dennis. 

Peter  Kugu. 

LO                  lO 

PO         T                lO                O         t^ 
lO         lO               lO               LO         to 

AND 

MONOGRAPHS 

112 

BEOTHUK   AND    M I C M A C 

1 

a 
z 
< 

H 
W 

cq 

< 
u 

fa 
o 

o 

< 

.S 
§  3 

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C 
en 

H 

M 

« 

o 

W 

H 
o 
z 

>-l 

H 
Z 

< 

S 
< 

H 

< 
U 

o 

h-I 

"place  where  red 

clay      paint      is 

found." 
Ebadek',    "(river) 

dividing  a  hill  in 

two." 
(?) 

Ktu'dnnk,   "at   the 
(north)  moun- 
tain." 

"gorge     through 
the  mountain." 

U 

H 

P 
O 
g 
H 

K 
,■  > 

i 

fa 

Lake   Ainslie   north 
on  coast  of  White 
capes. 

Around  Baddeck  and 
Middle  river. 

North  river  basin  to 

Indian  brook. 
Indian  brook  through 

Aspy     river     and 

bay. 
St   Ann's   mountain 

and    Boularderie 

island. 

O 

a 

5 

0. 

o 
« 

o 

Paul. 

Francis  Newell. 

John  Kugu. 

Charles   and   Ben 
Pollet. 

Common  territory 
in  band  for  fall 
berry -gathering. 

00                       O                O         ■^                CN 

INDIAN    NOTES 

CAPE    BRETON    ISLAND 


113 


their  general  characteristics  are  similar 
throughout  the  ISlicmac  countrj'.  There  was 
no  clan,  no  regulation  of  exogamy,  and  no 
group  totemism  or  social  significance  in 
names,  so  far  as  is  remembered.  The 
immediate  members  of  the  families  consti- 
tute the  groups  having  inherited  or  pre- 
empted districts  for  hunting,  with  the  ex- 
clusive right  to  the  districts  as  long  as  any 
of  the  sons  of  the  proprietors  are  living  to 
work  them.  Territories  may  also  be  trans- 
mitted by  loan  or  through  partnership.  A 
point  of  detail,  however,  in  connection  with 
the  territories  of  the  Cape  Breton  band  is 
the  local  naming  of  the  districts.  This  does 
not  appear  prominently  in  the  other  prov- 
inces. Another  feature  of  distinction  is, 
perhaps,  the  occurrence  of  several  fishing 
and  berry-gathering  districts. 

PI.  xxxvii  and  xxxviii  illustrate  Micmac 
hunting  camps.  Several  wigwams  are  needed 
to  house  the  family  groups;  in  this  case 
two  brothers  were  working  together  on 
their  paternal  territory.  Owing  to  the  scar- 
city of  birch-bark,  the  wig\vams  have 
occasionally   tar-papcr  coverings,   although 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


114 

BEOTHUK   AND    MIC MAC 

the  aboriginal  form  and  architecture  are 
preserved  PI.  xxxix-xli  illustrate  de- 
tails of  wigwam  construction. 

As  regards  the  Christian  names  of  the  pro- 
prietors of  the  fishing  and  hunting  dis- 
tricts, it  may  seem  strange  to  find  them 
so  general;  but  this  is  due  to  early  mission- 
ary influence.  Indeed,  as  long  ago  as  1761, 
we  find  mention  of  Micmac  chiefs  in  New 
Brunswick  and  Prince  Edward  island  with 
French  names. -^  In  only  a  few  cases  do 
native  nicknames  still  persist. 

In  the  table  (pp.  110-112)  are  arranged 
the  proprietors'  names  and  nicknames,  where 
they  have  them,  their  hunting  districts,  and 
the  native  local  names  in  the  Cape  Breton 
dialect  corresponding  to  the  numbers  on  the 
map.  On  the  map  these  districts  are  shown 
as  they  were  marked  out  by  the  descendants 
of  the  proprietors  themselves.  The  ]\lic- 
mac  settlements  are  also  indicated. 

HUNTING  TERRITORIES  IN  PRINCE 
EDWARD  ISLAND 

Among  the  Micmac  of  Prince  Edward 
island,   who   are    known   as  Ebegwi'dsnax, 

INDIAN    NOTES 

SPECK — BEOTHUK    AND    MICMAC 


PL     XXXIX 


BIRCH-BARK  WIGWAM   OF  THE  CAPE  BRETON   MICMAC 


SPECK^BEOTHUK    AND    MICMAC 


3IRCH-BARK     WIGWAM     OF    THE     CAPE    BRETON    MICMAC, 
SHOWING   FEATURE  OF  THE   HOOP  AND  THE   INSIDE 
POLES  FROM   WHICH  COOKING   VESSELS  ARE 
SUSPENDED  AND  CLOTHES  HUNG  TO   DRY 


PRINCE  EDWARD  ISLAND 


115 


"People  of  the  island  in  the  sea,"  we  en- 
counter the  same  characteristics  as  those 
found  in  the  territorial  institution  of  the 
tribe  on  the  mainland.  The  information 
which  I  give  was  obtained  by  Gabe  Paul, 
a  Malecite-Penobscot  Indian  of  Oldtown, 
Maine,  during  a  special  trip  to  this  band. 
In  recent  years,  it  appears,  the  hunt- 
ing has  been  growing  worse  on  the  island, 
the  natives  having  had  to  resort  more  and 
more  to  fishing.  An  interesting  legend  ac- 
counts for  the  disappearance  of  the  moose 
from  the  region  many  years  ago.  Owing 
to  the  small  size  of  the  island  and  the 
increasing  population,  the  moose  at  first 
began  to  diminish.  Then  later  the  Indians 
planned  a  great  round-up,  and  in  a  short 
time  killed  nearly  all  that  were  left,  although 
some  of  the  older  people  advised  against 
the  procedure.  Consequently  the  remaining 
moose,  offended  at  the  thoughtless  improvi- 
dence of  the  Indians,  departed  from  the 
island,  never  to  return.  Some  of  the  hunt- 
ers claimed  to  have  seen  their  footprints  on 
the  shore  whence  they  made  their  escape  by 
swimming. 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


116 


BEOTHUK  AND  MI CM AC 


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INDIAN  NOTES 


NEWFOUNDLAND 


117 


From  what  can  be  learned  about  the 
methods  of  later  years,  it  appears  that  the 
Prince  Edward  Island  Indians  had  more 
communal  hunting  and  fishing  territory 
than  is  usual  in  the  neighboring  regions,  and 
that  fishing  was  relatively  the  more  impor- 
tant activity. 

Only  a  few  family  districts  seem  now 
to  be  remembered.  They  are  as  shown  on 
page  116  (the  numbers  given  correspond 
with  those  on  Map  II,  Newfoundland  and 
Prince  Edward  Island). 

HUNTING  TERRITORIES  OF  THE  MICMAC- 
MONTAGNAIS  OF  NEWFOUNDLAND 

Since  the  dispersion  or  extermination, 
whichever  it  might  have  been,  of  the  Beo- 
thuk  or  Red  Indians  in  Newfoundland,  the 
Micmac  have  come  to  occupy  the  southern 
and  western  portions  of  the  island.  Here, 
in  accordance  with  their  custom  on  the 
mainland,  the  different  family  heads  appro- 
priated, for  themselves  and  descendants, 
hunting  districts  which  have  continued, 
subject  of  course  to  some  changes  and  redis- 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


118 

BEOTHUK   AND    MIC MAC 

tributions,  since  the  days  of  the  first  Mic- 
mac    colonization.     Incidentally,    Montag- 
nais  hunters  from  Labrador,  following  the 
same   easterly    trend,    have   become    thor- 
oughly incorporated  with  the  Micmac,  so 
that,  while  the  language  in  Newfoundland 
has  remained  Micmac,  many   ethnological 
and  some  physical  characteristics,  no  doubt, 
such  as  they  appear  to  observation,  are 
largely  Montagnais.     In  addition  we  have 
to  recognize  the  possibility  that  some  fea- 
tures of  culture  may  have  been  absorbed  from 
the  Beothuk   at  various   times,   especially 
during  the  period  when  they  and  the  Mic- 
mac occupied  a  village  in  common  at  St 
George's  bay. 

In  studying  the  history  of  these  Micmac- 
Montagnais,  as  we  shall  call  them,  in  New- 
foundland, we  have  some  opportunity  of 
observing  the  growth  and  extension  of  their 
family  territories  from  their  first  foundation 
on  the  southwestern  coasts.     Assuming  in 
general  that  this  could  hardly  have  pre- 
ceded the  arrival  of  the  first  white  people 
in   the   seventeenth   century,   we   can   see, 
though  only  at  a  glance,  through  the  period 

INDIAN    NOTES 

SPECK — BEOTHUK    AND    MICMAC 


INTERIOR  OF  WIGWAM  OF  CAPE  BRETON   MICMAC,  SHOWING 
SIZE   AND   PLACING   OF   POLES  _ 


<h- 

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^^ 


NEWFOUNDLAND 


of  jSIicmac  expansion  and  Beothuk  decline, 
covering  about  200  years,  up  to  the  present 
time. 

The  Newfoundland  Indians,  numbering 
about  300  by  estimate,  are  known  both  to 
themselves  and  to  the  people  of  the  main- 
land (Cape  Breton)  as  Taya'^nkuyewa  x,'^^ 
"people  of  the  land  across  the  water,"  the 
island  itself  being  known  as  Ta'yamkuk' . 
The  Montagnais  proper  call  the  JMicmac 
A  isi'mc"uts,  "evil  people."  According  to  the 
tradition  current  among  the  Newfoundland 
Indians,  the  Micmac  of  the  mainland  had 
always  some  knowledge  of  the  island  through 
their  own  excursions  by  canoe.  The  route 
lay  between  Cape  North  (of  Cape  Breton) 
and  Cape  Ray  on  the  southwestern  coast  of 
Newfoundland,  a  distance  of  sixty-five  miles, 
land  being  dimly  visible  in  fine  weather. 
This  bold  journey  was  ordinarily  accom- 
plished in  two  days,  they  say.  On  the  first 
daj'  or  night,  if  the  weather  favored,  the 
voyagers  made  St  Paul's  island,  Tiiywe'gan 
m3ni'guk\  "temporary  goal  island, "^^  a 
distance  of  fifteen  miles.  From  here  three 
sturdy  canoemen  would  paddle  across  the 


119 


AND    jMONOGRAPHS 


120 

BEOTHUK   AND    MICMAC 

remaining  fifty  miles   of    Cabot   strait    to 
Cape  Ray  in  Newfoundland.     Landing  here, 
they  would  await  another  calm  night,  then 
build  an  immense  beacon  fire  on  the  high- 
lands to  serve  both  as  a  signal  for  advance 
and  a  guide  for  direction  through  the  night. 
x\t  times  even  in  summer  the  position  of  the 
highlands  is  apt  to  be  marked  by  the  white  of 
snow-fields,  resembling  at  a  distance  noth- 
ing more  than  a  streak  of  cloud.     In  clear 
weather  the  elevated  "barrens"  of  the  New- 
foundland coast   show  quite  plainly  from 
Cape  North.     The  strait  is  often  calmer  at 
night.     In    this    manner    they    made    the 
crossing,  which  is  usually  a  dangerous  one, 
very  rough  and  foggy.     In  affirming  the  tes- 
timony regarding  this  difficult  accomplish- 
ment, Frank  Paul,  of  the  St  George's  Bay 
band,  stated  that  the  Indians  occasionally, 
even  in  more  recent   times,   went   across, 
using  bark  canoes,   in   this    way  to    Cape 
Breton  to  participate    in    the   celebration 
of  St  Ann's  day,  July  26th,  •  at  Chapel  is- 
land, at  which  time  takes  place  the  Mic- 
mac   national    festival. ^^      We    may    also 
conclude  that   the  Micmac  migrations   to 

INDIAN    NOTES 

NEWFOUNDLAND 

121 

Newfoundland  were  aided  considerably  by 
French   schooners  plying  across    the    gulf 
and  Cabot  strait.    Indeed,  the  great-grand- 
father of  JNIathew  Mitchell,  who  was  a  cap- 
tain, or  sub-chief,  is  said  to  have  received 
a  sloop  as  a  present  from  the  French  king  in 
order  to  facilitate  the  movements  of  the  Mic- 
mac  on  the  water  in  the  interests  of  France. 
Then,  as  the  numbers  of  the  JNIicmac  in- 
creased, their  settlements  were  extended  from 
the  west  coast  to  the  southern  coast  and  later 
into    the    interior.     The    first    settlements 
were  about  St  George's  bay,  Norwa'mkisk, 
"where  the  sand  is  blown  up  by  the  wind." 
On  the  south  coast  the  Micmac  located  at 
Burgeo,   Ma'yeme'gwik,    "big   fish   river," 
and  Asiktci'ganmk,  "on  the  other  side  of  the 
land  (toward  the  sea),"  now  called  Connel 
river.     These   and    other   villages   on    the 
northern  coast,  settled  after  the  withdrawal 
of  the  Beothuk  into  the  interior,  will  be 
found  marked  on  the  accompanying  map. 
In  the  St  George's  Bay  region,  supposedly 
near  the  present  village  of  Stevensville,  the 
Micmac  remembers  that  his  ancestors  lived 
in  at  least  one  village  in  company  with  the 

AND    MONOGRAPHS 

122 


BEOTHUK   AND    MIC MAC 


Beothuk,  whom  they  term Meywe'djik,  "red 
people."  According  to  tradition,  this  ami- 
cable contact  lasted  until  a  quarrel  occurred 
between  a  Micmac  and  a  Beothuk  boy  over 
the  kiUing  of  a  tabooed  animal,  in  which 
the  Beothuk  boy  was  killed.  A  fight 
promptly  ensued  between  the  two  tribes  on 
this  account,  and  the  Micmac  drove  the 
Beothuk  into  the  interior.  While  we  may 
recognize  in  this  typical  folktale  a  mere  sec- 
ondary explanation  of  the  existing  historical 
facts,^^  we  can  safely  believe  that  it  indi- 
cates an  early  period  of  contact  between  the 
Micmac  and  the  Beothuk.  This  belief  finds 
some  support  in  the  results  of  a  study  of 
Newfoundland  Micmac  material  culture, 
showing  a  number  of  features  peculiar  to 
the  island  that  are  not  attributable  to  the 
Micmac  or  to  the  Montagnais  of  the  main- 
land, but  which  are  thought,  even  by  some  of 
the  Indians  themselves,  to  have  been  bor- 
rowed from  the  Beothuk.  We  might  infer 
this,  for  instance,  for  the  Newfoundland  type 
of  canoe  with  the  high-pointed  middle,  the 
boot-moccasins,  and  the  habit  of  dyeing 
leather  for  articles  of  clothing  a  deep  red, 


INDIAN    NOTES 


NEWFOUNDLAND 

123 

as  well  as  a  few  other  features  which  I  have 
treated  more  fully  in  the  preceding  paper.^" 
Throughout  Newfoundland  the  Indians 
refer  to  their  predecessors  as  Sa'yawe'djki'k, 
"the  ancients,"  speaking  of  them  as  though 
they  were  the  first  inhabitants  of  the  is- 
land.^^    Some  of  the  older  Micmac-lMon- 
tagnais  even  claim  that  the  Sa'ydwe'djki'k 
antedated  the  coming  of  the  Beothuk.     Ig- 
noring such  testimony,  I  think  we  may  con- 
clude that  the  term  simply  refers  to  the 
earlier  Micmac   colonists   from   the  main- 
land, whose  numbers  were  few  and  whose 
isolation   rendered   them  distinct  in   some 
respects  in  culture  and  possibly  in  dialect. 
These  people  are  believed  to  have  been  true 
Micmac  and  to  have  had  a  complete  native 
nomenclature  for  the  prominent  places  in 
the   island.     Some   of    the   older    Indians 
recall    hearing    about    the    last    of    these 
Sa'yawe'djki'k  in  the  person  of  an  old  blind 
woman  who  died  in  Sydney  many  years 
ago.    Although  over  one-hundred  years  of 
age,  she  was  conveyed  in  a  canoe  by  her  rela- 
tives, at  her  own  request,  over  a  large  part 
of  Newfoundland,  giving  the  various  lakes, 

AND    MONOGRAPHS 

124 


BEOTHUK    AND    MICMAC 


rivers,  and  mountains  their  proper  names 
according  to  the  ancient  terminology.  In 
an  appended  note  I  present  a  list  of  some 
of  these  ancient  names  as  remembered  by 
John  Paul,  himself  an  old  man.  They  are 
typical  Micmac  terms.  The  Sa'yawe'djki'k 
families  are  said  to  have  become  completely 
merged  with  the  later  comers  from  Cape 
Breton  and  Labrador. 

It  would  be  interesting  if  we  could  form 
a  more  definite  idea  as  to  when  the  INIicmac 
first  reached  Newfoundland.  In  the  local 
historical  records  we  encounter  mention  of 
them  taking  part  in  the  troubles  between 
the  English  and  the  French  around  the 
southn  and  ercaster-n  coasts.^"  Other  early 
authors  speak  of  them.  Chappell,^^  an  Eng- 
lishman,'writing  in  1818,  says:  ^ 

"During  our  war  with  America  between 
the  years  1775  and  1782,  the  Micmac  Indians, 
inhabiting  the  island  of  Cape  Breton  and  the 
parts  adjacent,  were  amongst  the  numbers  of 
our  most  inveterate  enemies;  but  at  length  one 
of  our  mihtary  commanders  having  concluded 
an  amicable  treaty  with  them,  he  selected  one 
of  the  most  sagacious  of  their  chiefs  to  negotiate 
a  peace.  .  .  .  The  old  Indian  ambassador 
succeeded     .     .     .     and  received  as  his  reward 


INDIAN    NOTES 


NEWFOUNDLAND 


125 


the  grant  of  a  sterile  tract  of  land  in  St.  Georges 
bay,  Newfoundland,  together  with  permission  to 
transport  as  man}'  of  his  countrymen  as  might 
be  willing.  .  .  .  Accordingh-  the  old  Sachem 
left  his  native  land,  accompanied  by  a  strong 
party  .  .  .  and  boldly  launching  out  to  sea 
in  their  own  crazy  shallops  or  canoes,  they 
eventually  reached  St.  Georges  bay  in  safety." 

He  also  presents  evidence  that  the  Mic- 
mic  frequently  crossed  over  to  Labrador 
from  the  south  shore  of  the  Gulf  of  St  Law- 
rence. In  the  same  book  (p.  86)  Chappell 
estimates  the  Indians  at  St  George's  bay 
at  ninety-seven.  The  quotation  given  above 
bears  only,  of  course,  on  the  then  more 
recent  Micmac  arrivals,  as  he  was  not  suf- 
ficiently intimate  with  the  Indians  to  have 
learned  very  much.  His  information,  he 
even  states,  was  gained  while  being  paddled 
across  the  river  in  a  canoe. 

At  the  head  of  the  Newfoundland  band  is 
a  life  chief,  Reuben  Morris,  whose  home  is 
at  Conne  river.  Although  the  Grand  Chief 
at  Eskasoni,  Cape  Breton,  is  higher  in 
authority  than  the  Newfoundland  chief,  this 
amounts  to  but  little  because  the   contact 


AND    AIO  NO  GRAPHS 


126 

BEOTHUK   AND    MICMAC 

« 
between  the  two  bands  is  necessarily  loose, 
owing  to  the  difificulty  of  communication. 

As  regards  Montagnais  influences  in  New- 
foundland, we  learn  that  from  early  colonial 
times  the  Labrador  Indians  often  traversed 
the  ten  miles  of  water  in  summer  or  the  ice  in 
winter,  which  separated  them  from  the  island, 
and    estabhshed    temporary    headquarters 
there.     Early  intermarriages  between  them 
and  the  Micmac  were  so  common  that  more 
than  half  of  the  older  Indians  in  Newfound- 
land today  have  Montagnais  among  their 
grandparents.^*    There  are  now  some  fam- 
ilies half  Micmac  and  half  Montagnais,  be- 
sides a  few  true  Montagnais,  and  to  my 
knowledge,  one  Naskapi.    I  have  made  note 
of  this  in  the  tabular  arrangement  of  the 
families  and  their  hunting  districts.     Re- 
liable oral  testimony  from  John  Paul  shows 
that  twenty-five  years  ago  (1889)   a  band 
of  Montagnais,  consisting  of  forty  families, 
from  the  south  coast  of  Labrador,  crossing 
the  straits  of  Belle  Isle,  settled  on  the  north- 
west coast  of  the  island  above  Bonne  bay. 
They  stayed  there  hunting  beaver  all  win- 
ter.   Incidentally,  it  is  averred,  they  drew 

INDIAN    NOTES 

NEWFOUNDLAND 

"    127 

all  the  beaver  from  that  part  of  the  country 
by  leaving  at  their  abandoned  camp  a  split 
beaver  leg  bone  fastened  into  a  stick  point- 
ing northward.     The  effect  of  this  magical 
operation  was  not  counteracted  until  old 
Tom  Joe,  a  Naskapi  who  understood  Lab- 
rador conjurers'  methods,  threw  the  bone 
into  the  fire.    When  it  burst,  the  direction 
in  which  the  splinters  flew  denoted  where 
the  beaver  were  to  be  found. ^^     Montagnais 
influences  in  Newfoundland  ethnology  ap- 
pear largely  in  magical  practices,  while  in 
material  culture  they  are  manifested  in  de- 
tails of  clothing,  camp  paraphernalia,  and 
certain     types    of    bone    implements.     It 
should  be  added,  however,  that  some  of  the 
latter  might  just  as  well  be  attributed  to 
the  Eskimo,   since   they   are   common   to 
boith  Eskimo  and  Montagnais. 

Turning  now   to   the  proper  subject  of 
this  paper,  we  observe  at  once  from  the  map 
that  the  family  hunting  territories  of  the 
Newfoundland   band   are   grouped   in    the 
southwestern  portion  of  the  island,  leaving 
the  northern  and  eastern  tracts  practically 
unappropriated.     The  claims  situated  along 

AND    MONOGRAPHS 

128 


BEOTHUK   AND    MICMAC 


the  western  and  southern  coasts  are  the 
oldest,  as  evidenced  by  the  names  of  their 
proprietors,  who,  we  are  told,  were  the  pion- 
eers of  the  Micmac  migration.  Farther  in- 
land the  districts  have  been  more  recently 
appropriated  by  younger  hunters,  who  have 
pushed  into  the  interior.  Indeed  some  of 
these  have  been  so  lately  occupied  that  they 
are  not  well  known  among  the  older  hunters 
There  is,  moreover,  some  confusion  in  the 
boundaries  of  these,  due  to  still  more  recent 
changes  among  some  of  the  younger  men 
of  the  Paul,  John,  and  Beaton  families,  who 
have  taken  up  claims  along  the  line  of  the 
railway  opened  some  twenty-odd  years  ago. 
Under  these  circumstances,  the  fact  should 
be  emphasized  that  the  territorial  surveys, 
as  I  present  them  on  the  map,  represent  a 
combination  of  old  conditions  with  those 
prevailing  at  the  time  of  my  visit.  Since 
matters  of  this  kind  are  by  no  means  strictly 
static,  we  must  allow  for  changes.  These 
remarks  apply  likewise  to  other  studies  and 
papers  dealing  with  this  widespread  topic. 
The  local  unclearness  of  boundaries  here, 
it  seems  to  me,   illustrates    the  conditions 


INDIAN    NOTES 


NEWFOUNDLAND 

129 

which  obtain  on   an  ethnic  frontier.     The 
matter  as  a  whole  has,  moreover,  a  certain 
significance  in  showing  to  what  extent  the 
frontier  of  an  Indian  habitat  has  expanded 
in,   let  us  say,  not  much  more  than  two 
hundred  years  of  occupancy.     In  the  last 
two  generations  of  hunters,    the  tendency 
toward  expansion  among  the  Micmac-Mon- 
tagnais  has  apparent!}'  been  quickened  by 
the  absence  of  hostile   neighbors,    as    the 
Beothuk  might  have  been  to  them  had  they 
surv'ived,  and,  at  the  same  time,  by  very 
favorable  game  conditions.    Nowhere  in  the 
east  are  the  caribou  more  abundant.     Several 
hundred  thousand  of   the  animals  migrate 
semi-annually   from   the    northern    to    the 
southern  barrens  and  afford  an  abundant 
meat  supply  to  the  natives.     Caspar  Whit- 
ney has  published  a  very  interesting  bio- 
graphical study  of  the  herd,  the  knowledge 
of  which  greatly  helps  us  to  understand  local 
economic  conditions.     It  will  be  seen,   ac- 
cordingly, by  referring  to  the  map,  that  the 
more  recent  claims  in  the  interior  are  larger 
in  the  vicinity  of  Grand,  Red  Indian,  and 
Gander  lakes  and  Exploits  river  in  the  ter- 

AND    :\I0  NO  GRAPHS 

130 

BEOTHUK   AND    MICMAC 

ritorics    last    vacated  by   the    unfortunate 
Beothuk. 

Regarding    the    hunting     territories    in 
Newfoundland,  the  usual  Micmac  character- 
istics stand  forth,  there  being  nothing  par- 
ticularly distinctive  to  note.    The  districts 
are    termed    ntna'ylwo'mi,    "my    hunting 
ground,"  the  same  as  in  the  Cape  Breton 
dialect.    The    families    are    fairly    large. 
They  form  local  groups,  having  more  or  less 
permanent   headquarters   in  .  the   different 
coast  villages  and  in  the  hunting  camps  dis- 
tributed through  their  territories.     Some  of 
the  families  now  make  their  headquarters 
along  the  line  of  the  railroad,  where  they 
can  obtain  other  work  when  they  so  desire. 
The  oldest  hunter  of  each  family  is  com- 
monly regarded  as  the  "boss."    He  directs 
the  labor  of  the  younger  men,  planning, 
from  his  knowledge  of  the  conditions  of  the 
game,  when  and  where  they  shall  hunt.     At 
his  death  his  authority  falls  to  the  next 
most  responsible  elder  of  the  family,  whether 
he   be   his   son,   brother,   or   nephew.    It 
sometimes  happens  that  parts  of  claims  are 
ceded  as  gifts  to  friends  from  outside,  as 

INDIAN    NOTES 

NEWFOUNDLAND 


an  inducement  to  become  members  of  the 
family  either  by  marriage  or  by  simple 
cooperation  in  the  hunt.  For  example,  Joe 
JuHan,  chief  at  Sydney,  Cape  Breton,  was 
contemplating  accepting  the  offer  made  to 
him  by  his  friend  Louis  John  in  Newfound- 
land to  share  part  of  his  claim  at  Long 
Harbor  river  (No.  4  on  the  map),  where  the 
territory  was  too  large  to  be  properly  worked 
by  the  present  John  family.  As  might  be 
expected  under  the  pioneer  conditions  ex- 
isting among  the  Newfoundland  Indians,  a 
rather  weak  sense  of  resentment  prevails 
against  trespass,  which  indeed  can  hardly 
be  avoided  occasionally,  because  the  chase 
is  concerned  mainly  with  the  caribou.  On 
account  of  the  absence  of  many  important 
mammals  from  the  fauna  of  Newfoundland, 
such  as  mink,  sable,  fisher,  badger,  wolver- 
ene, skunk,  porcupine,  raccoon,  and  wood- 
chuck,  hunting  is  practically  restricted  to 
caribou,  bears,  foxes,  and  beavers.  Sealing 
and  fishing  are  important  to  the  Indians 
only  while  they  are  on  the  coast. 

A  few  remarks  pertaining  to  certain  of 
the  families  and  their  territories  are  neccs- 


131 


m. 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


132 

BEOTHUK    AND 

M  I  C  M  A  C 

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mac. 

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scot 

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S 

s 

H 
P 

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s 

H 

brook  and 
George    IV 

0  high  bar- 
sar  coast. 

ear  river  to 

1  pond,  Bay 
rd. 

II 

ong  Harbor 

north      to 

Nova  river. 

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King 
lake  ti 
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INDIAN    NOTES 

NEWFOUNDLAND 


133 


in   cj  ■>-> 


•^  C 


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2  '-' 

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AND    MONOGRAPHS 


134 

BEOTHUK   AND    MIC MAC 

o 

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general  t 
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Recent 
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King  G 
elsew 

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Beaton  (fan 

Mathew   M 
(old       ch 
family). 

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INDIAN    NOTES 

NEWFOUNDLAND 

135 

sary.     Regarding    the    claim   held   in    the 
family  of  JVIathew  JNlitchell  (No.  13),  the 
small  size  of  this  tract  in  comparison  with 
the  others  is  to  be  explained  by  the  fact 
that  the  old  Mitchell  family  holds  an  he- 
reditary chieftaincy.     On  this  account  the 
^Mitchells  have  the  privilege  of  hunting  al- 
most anywhere  without  hindrance  and  even 
trapping  inside  of  other  claims  if  the  propri- 
etors themselves  are  not  working  at  the 
time    in   the  neighborhood.     Consequently 
about  the  only  place  hunted  continuously  by 
them  is  around  King  George  IV  lake,  as 
marked.    Within    the    last    twenty    years 
^lathew  Mitchell  has  hunted  in  the  Bonne 
bay  district,  which  had  hitherto  been  unoc- 
cupied by  the  Micmac.     Again,  regarding 
territory  No.  6  and  6a,  held  by  John  Paul 
in  lieu  of  the  original  proprietor  Andrew 
Joe's  heirs,  we  strike  a  case  of  irregular  ten- 
ure.    This  was  the  original  claim  of  Tom 
Joe,  at  whose  death  it  fell  to  his  son  Andrew 
Joe,  who  died  leaving  two  sons  who  were 
too  young  to  take  care  of  themselves.     Be- 
fore his  death  Andrew  turned  the  children 
over  to  his  jjrother-in-law,  John  Paul,  and 

AND    MONOGRAPHS 

136 

BEOTHUK   AND    MICMAC 

left  him  a  right  to  the  territory  under  certain 
conditions.     He   told   John   Paul    that   he 
could  take  half  of  the  claim  for  his  own  if  he 
wished,  including  all  the  traps  and  camp 
property  then  on  the  grounds.    He  did  not, 
however,  leave  John  Paul  the  right  to  dis- 
pose of  it,  lest  it  pass  out  of  the  boys'  hands 
entirely.     Acquiescing   in    this   far-sighted 
scheme,  Paul  left  his  own  hereditary  family 
district,   took   the  southern  half  of  Joe's 
claim,  and  now  occupies  it  on  shares  with 
the  two  boys,  who  since  reaching  maturity 
have  become  his  stepsons. 

In  conclusion,  our  information,  when  re- 
solved to  the  proper  perspective,  leads  to 
the  opinion  that,  in  continuous  regions  in- 
habited by  branches  of  one  tribe,  the  coun- 
try where  the  family  hunting  territories  are 
the  largest  is  a  country  more  recently  occu- 
pied.    The  proportionate  magnitude  of  the 
Newfoundland  family  claims  is  shown  in 
the  average  of  two  thousand  square  miles 
to  each,  while  in  Cape  Breton  this  average 
gives  but  four  hundred  square  miles,  and 
in   Nova   Scotia   only   about   two  hundred 
square  miles  to  each  family.     Hence  Nova 

INDIAN    NOTES 

NEWFOUNDLAND 


137 


Scotia  was  doubtless  the  center  of  distribu- 
tion of  the  southern  and  eastern  Micmac, 
whose  trend  of  migration  has  been  con- 
tinuously eastward.  This  is  also  conclusive 
from  historical  sources  and  also  from  eth- 
nological considerations — rather  satisfactory 
coincidences.  I  hope  soon  to  try  to  deter- 
mine the  relative  standing  of  the  New 
Brunswick  bands.  After  that  the  next 
problem  to  be  considered  is  the  relationship 
of  the  Micmac  as  a  whole  to  the  similarly 
distributed  ]\Iontagnais  north  of  the  St 
Lawrence. 

We  also  have  information  on  the  number 
and  location  of  the  Newfoundland  INIicmac 
from  another  recent  source.  jMr  R.  S. 
Dahl,  in  a  letter  to  the  writer  dated  June  6, 
1912,  from  Placentia  bay,  Newfoundland, 
gives  the  following  list  of  Micmac  settle- 
ments and  Micmac  hunters  which  he  ob- 
tained from  ]\Ir  Howley.  The  settlements 
are:  Conne  River,  Bay  d'Espoir,  about  125 
souls;  Bay  St  George;  Codroy,  one  family; 
Bonne  Bay;  Hall's  Bay;  Gambo;  Glen  wood; 
and  Port  Blandford.  In  addition  Mr  Dahl 
gives  a  more  complete  list  of  the  men  in- 


AXD    MONOGRAPHS 


138 


BEOTHUK   AND    MICMAC 


habiting  the  Bay  d'Espoir  settlement.  I 
may  say  that  among  these  names  are  evi- 
dently those  of  some  transients,  recent  ar- 
rivals, or  of  mixed-bloods,  except  for  which 
the  majority  correspond  closely  with  the 
enumeration  of  the  older  families  as  previ- 
ously given.  The  names  are:  Frank  Joe, 
Little  Frank  Benoit,  Paul  Benoit,  Frank 
Benoit,  John  Benoit,  Johnny  Benoit,  Ben 
Benoit,  Ned  Pullet,  Noel  Louis,  Frank 
McDonald,  Noel  Mathews,  Martin  and 
Michael  Mathews,  Noel  Jeddore,  Joe  and 
Nicholas  Jeddore,  John  Bernard,  Stephen 
Bernard,  John  Stride,  Reuben  Lewis  (chief), 
Peter  and  Micky  John,  John  John  2d,  Lewis 
John,  John  and  Paddy  Hinx,Mathew Burke, 
Len  Joe,  Ben  Paul,  Abraham  Paul,  Noel 
Paul,  Matty  Michel  and  son. 

ANCIENT  PLACE-NAMES  IN 
NEWFOUNDLAND 

On  the  Southwestern  Coast: 

Noywa'mkisk,  "place  where  the  sand  is  blown 

up,"  inner  St  George's  bay. 
Kives2W3'mkia,   "sandy  point,"   St   George's 

bay. 


INDIAN    NOTES 


N  E  W  F  0  U  N  D  L  A  N  D 


139 


Xudjo''yan  "eel  spearing  place  (?),"  inside 
Sandy  point. 

Meski''gtiru.i'd3n,  "big  channel,"  Stevens- 
ville,  St  George's  bay. 

Ma'xtJguek,  "mouth  of  the  river,"  Little 
river,  on  south  coast. 

MJski'gui''ga7jlc,  "grass  wigwam,"  coast  be- 
tween Burgeo  and  La  Poile. 

Ma'y<h)!e'g'd^k,  "big  fish  river"  (also  given  as 
"big  swelling")  (?). 

In  the  Interior: 

A)!i''apsku'a'tc,  "rocky  mountains,"  south  of 

Red  Indian  lake. 
Mcy'u'e''djcu.'a'gi,  "red  Indian  country,"  Red 

Indian  lake. 
Mi  'Ipe'g,  "mam^  bays,"  Meelpaeg  lake. 
Meyue'za'xsi't,   "red-faced   person,"  Hodge's 

mountain,  northeast  of  Badger's  brook.     A 

local  legend  says  that  here  was  the  last 

place  where  a  Beothuk  was  seen. 
Kespitde'kJui  X9''spem,  "last  lake."   at  head 

of  Harry's  river. 
Eb  ogu'ii'nbe'g,  "low  bay  lake,"  just  east  of 

Meelpaeg. 
dniidjihu''djitc,     "Indian     brook,"     east    of 

Crooked  lake. 
Medani''ga7iik,  "village  half  way,"  lake  above 

Belle  bay  (Meddonnegonni.x). 
Xaxsxae''gadi,  "place  of  boards"  (?),  east  of 

the  last. 
K'u.e''gudek',  "on  the  top,"  above  Meddonne- 

gonnix. 
W<7i'iji''g'u.'amdji'tc,  "little  house,"  Wejegun- 

jeesh  lake. 


.\ND    MONOGRAPHS 


140 

BEOTHUK   AND    MICMAC 

Maligwe'djik,  "low  growth  place,"  Molly- 
gwajek  lake  on  Terra  Nova  river. 

Kepa'mkek,  "sand-bar  across  channel,"  head 
of  Terra  Nova  river. 

As  might  well  be  expected,  some  of  these 
names  are  of  frequent  occurrence  in  Micmac 
toponomy.     For  instance,  the  third  in  the 
above  list,  nudjo'ydn,  is  given  for  two  other 
places   in   Rand's  list   of   Micmac   place- 
names,^''  St  Mary's  bay  in  the  St  Lawrence, 
and  Chegogun  harbor,  near  St  Mary's  bay. 
No  meaning,  however,  is  assigned  to  it  by 
Rand.    The  seventh  term,  ma'ydme'gwik,  is 
also  the  name  of  St  Croix  river,  New  Bruns- 
wick (ibid.,  p.  43),  and  is  given  the  same 
meaning  as  in  Newfoundland.     The  sixth 
name  in   the  list  of  interior  place-names, 
eh'dgwu'nbe'g,  is    recorded  for   Abegunbek 
somewhere  in  Micmac  territory  (ibid.,  p.  12), 
which  Rand  renders  "a  bending  bay,"  and 
the  last  two  in  the  list  above  show  recurrence 
in  Malegawaachk  {maligewe  ' kk) ,  a  lake  in 
Ship  harbor.  Nova  Scotia,  and  Kebamkeak, 
the  name  of  Bathurst  harbor  and  Bathurst, 
New   Brunswick    (ibid.,   p.   32),   with   the 
same  meaning  as  in  Newfoundland. 

INDIAN    NOTES 

C  0  R  IM  A  C  K 

141 

Appendix 
I — cormack's  observations 

Mr  Howley,  in  his  recent  monograph  on 
the  Beothuk  of  Newfoundland,^^  does  eth- 
nolog>'  a  distinct  service  by  giving  in  full 
the  journal  of  William  E.  Cormack,  a  phi- 
lanthropic gentleman  who,  in  1822,  under- 
took a  trip  in  company  with  a  Micmac  In- 
dian across  the  island  in  an  endeavor  to  find 
some  traces  of  the  Beothuk.  Cormack's 
work  is  entitled,  "Narrative  of  a  Journey 
Across  the  Island  of  Newfoundland  in  1822." 
The  author  had  something  to  say  of  the 
Micmac-IMontagnais,  whom  he  encountered 
in  the  interior,  and  his  observations  are 
decidedly  worth  quoting  here  to  show  how 
little  the  conditions  of  life  among  the  Mic- 
mac and  Montagnais  have  changed  since 
then. 

About  half-way  across  the  island  Cormack 
and  his  guide,  a  Micmac  named  Joseph  Syl- 
vester, came  upon  the  camp  of  a  Mountain- 
eer (Montagnais)  from  Labrador — 

"who    could    speak    a    little    of    the    Micmac 
language,   his   wife   being   a   Micmac.     .     .     . 

AND    MONOGRAPHS 

142 


BEOTHUK   AND    MICMAC 


He  told  us  that  he  had  come  to  Newfoundland, 
hearing  that  it  was  a  better  hunting  country 
than  his  own,  and  that  he  was  now  on  his  way 
hunting  from  St.  Georges  Bay  to  the  Bay  of 
Despair  to  spend  the  winter  with  the  Indians 
there.  He  had  left  St.  Georges  Bay  two  months 
and  expected  to  be  at  the  Bay  of  Despair  in 
two  weeks  hence.  This  was  his  second  year  in 
Newfoundland."  3' 

He  had  his  hunting  ground  at  Meelpegh 
lake,  a  body  of  water  about  nine  or  ten 
miles  long. 

"The  Red  Indians'  country,  or  the  waters 
which  they  frequented,  we  were  told  by  the 
mountaineer,  lay  six  or  seven  miles  to  the  north 
of  us,  but  at  this  season  of  the  year  these  people 
were  likely  to  be  farther  to  the  northward  at 
the  Great  Lake  of  the  Red  Indians  (Red  Indian 
Lake);  also  that  about  two  weeks  before  there 
was  a  party  of  Micmack  hunting  at  the  next 
large  lake  to  the  westward,  about  two  days 
walk  from  us.  He  also  described  the  nature  of 
the  country  and  made  drawings  upon  sheets  of 
birch  rind  of  the  lakes,  rivers,  mountains  and 
woods  that  lay  in  the  best  route  to  St.  Georges 
harbor."^" 

This  Mountaineer  was  named  James 
John."*'  A  few  days  later  Cormack  met 
another  band  of  hunters. 


INDIAN   NOTES 


C  0  R  M  A  C  K 


143 


"They  were  Micmacks  and  natives  of  New- 
foundland and  expressed  themselves  glad  to  see 
me  in  the  middle  of  their  country  as  the  first 
white  man  who  had  ever  been  here.  They  told 
us  that  we  might  reach  St.  Georges  Ray  in  about 
ten  days  for  they  had  left  that  place  in  the 
middle  of  summer  and  had  since  been  hunting  in 
the  western  interior  .  .  .  and  that  they 
intended  in  a  few  weeks  to  repair  to  White  Bear 
Bay  to  spend  the  lAanter.  .  .  .  Here  were 
three  families  amounting  to  thirteen  persons  in 
number.  ...  In  the  woods  around  the 
margin  of  this  lake  the  Indians  had  lines  of  path 
equal  to  eight  or  ten  miles  in  extent,  set  with 
wooden  traps  or  dead-falls.  .  .  .  The  Red 
Indian  country  we  were  told  was  about  ten  or 
fifteen  miles  northward  of  us.  .  .  .  All  the 
Indians  in  the  island,  exclusive  of  the  Red 
Indians,  amount  to  nearh*  150,  dispersed  in 
bands  commonly  at  the  following  places  or  dis- 
tricts: St.  Georges  Harbour  and  Great  Cod  Roy 
river  on  the  west  coast;  White  Bear  Bay,  and  the 
Bay  of  Despair  on  the  south  coast;  Clode  Sound 
in  Bona  vista  Bay  on  the  east;  Ganda  Bay  on  the 
north  coast,  and  occasionally  at  Bonne  Bay  and 
the  Bay  of  Islands  on  the  northwest  coast. 
They  are  composed  of  ]Mickmacks,  joined  by 
some  of  the  mountaineer  tribes  from  the  Labra- 
dor and  a  few  of  the  Abenakies  from  Canada. 
There  are  twenty-seven  or  twenty-eight  families 
altogether,  averaging  five  to  each  family  and 
five  or  six  single  men.  They  all  follow  the  same 
mode  of  life — hunting  in  the  interior  from  the 
middle  of  summer  to  the  beginning  of  winter  in 
single  families,  or  in  two  or  three  families  to- 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


144 


BEOTHUK   AND    MICMAC 


gether.  They  go  from  lake  to  lake  hunting  all 
over  the  country  around  one,  before  they  pro- 
ceed to  the  next.  ...  A  great  division  of 
the  interior  of  Newfoundland  is  exclusively  pos- 
sessed and  hunted  over  by  Red  Indians  and  is 
considered  as  their  territory  by  the  others.  In 
former  times,  when  the  several  tribes  were 
upon  an  equality  in  respect  of  weapons,  the  Red 
Indians  were  considered  invincible  and  fre- 
quently waged  war  upon  the  rest,  until  the  lat- 
ter got  fire-arms  put  into  their  hands  by  the 
Europeans.  .  .  .  The  tribes  exclusive  of 
the  Red  Indians  have  no  chief  in  Newfoundland, 
but  there  are  several  individuals  at  St.  Georges 
Bay  to  whom  they  all  pay  a  deference.  The 
Mickmacks  although  most  of  them  born  in  this 
island  consider  Cape  Breton,  where  the  chiefs 
reside,  as  their  headquarters.  Their  several 
tribes  intermarry.  .  .  .^  One  of  the  Mick- 
macks of  this  party  named  Paul,  boasted  of 
maternal  descent  from  a  French  governor  of 
i  Prince  Edward  Islands." 

Further,  Cormack  says  that  ten  days 
later  he  had  the  satisfaction  of  again  en- 
countering a  camp  of  Micmac  at  what  he 
inferred  was  the  head  of  Little  river,  dis- 
charging from  a  lake  which  he  names  Wil- 
son's lake. 

"They  were  a  party  of  Mickmack  Indians. 
.  .  .  Only  one  man  belonged  to  this  en- 
campment. .  .  .  This  small  party  consisted 
of  eight  individuals,  one  man,  four  women  and 


INDIAN    NOTES 


GLUSKAP  145 


three   children,   one   an   infant.     .     .     .     This 
Indian's  name  he  told  me  was  Gabriel."" 

A  few  days  later  Cormack  reached  St 
George's  harbor,  where  he  found  shelter  in 
the  house  of  an  Indian  named  Emanuel 
Gontgont.-*^  These  notes  and  the  mention 
of  family  names  with  his  estimates  of  popu- 
lation speak  for  themselves  in  comparison 
with  what  has  been  already  presented. 

II — ABSTRACT  OF  THE  GLUSKAP 
TRANSFORMER  MYTH 

The  importance  of  geographical  sites  in  a 
territorial  study  of  this  nature  warrants  the 
presentation  of  the  following  myth  and 
landmarks,  the  locations  of  which  are  indi- 
cated by  letters  on  the  map  of  Cape  Breton 
island.  Each  band  of  the  Micmac  seems 
inclined  to  localize  the  Gluskap  myth,  a 
comparative  study  of  the  versions  of  which 
will  later  prove  interesting.  (For  this  and 
other  myths  of  the  Cape  Breton  band  the 
reader  is  referred  to  Journal  of  American 
Folk-lore,  vol.  xxviii,  no.  cvii,  Jan.-March, 
1915,  pp.  59-69.) 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


146 

BEOTHUK    AND    MIC MAC 

Gluskap's  Journey 

(The  Cape  Breton  Local  Version.     Related  by 
Chief  John  Joe  of  Wycogamagh) 

Gluskap  was   the  god  of  the  Micmac. 
The  great  deity,  Ktcim'sxam,  made  him  out 
of  earth  and  then  breathed  on  him.    This 
was  at   Cape  North    {Kt^'dnuk,    "at   the 
(north)  mountain")   (A),  Cape  Breton,  on 
the  eastern  side.     Gluskap's  home  was  at 
Fairy  Holes  {Gluska'bewi'guo'm,  "Gluskap's 
wigwam")  (B).*'^     Just  in  front  of  the  caves 
at  this  headland  are  three  little  islands  in  a 
straight  line,  known  as  Ciboux  islands  (C) : 
these  are  the  remains  of  Gluskap's  canoe, 
where  he  left  it  when  it  was  broken.     At 
Plaster   cove    {Two'bufc,    "Looking   out") 
(D),  two  girls  saw  his  canoe  broken  into 
three  pieces,  and  they  laughed,  making  fun 
of  Gluskap.     At  this  he  told  them  that  they 
would  remain  forever  where  they  are;  and 
today  there  are  two  rocks  at  Plaster  cove 
which  are  the  remains  of  these  girls.     Next, 
a  little  farther  north,  at  Wreck   cove  (E), 
Gluskap  jumped  from  his  canoe  when   it 
foundered,  lifting  his  moose-skin  canoe-mat 
out,  and  left  it  on  the  shore  to  dry.     There 

INDIAN    NOTES 

G  L  U  S  K  A  P 

is  still  to  be  seen  a  space  of  about  fifteen 
acres  of  bare  ground  where  the  mat  lay. 
Then  he  went  to  Table  Ile3.d{Padalo"di'tck) 
(F),  on  the  south  side  of  Great  Bras  d'Or. 
Here  he  had  his  dinner.    Next  he  struck 
into  Bras  d'Or  lake  straight  to  Wj'cogamagh 
(G),  on  the  western  end,  where  at  Indian 
island    (Wt'sik,    "Cabin"),    he   started   a 
beaver  and  drove  him  out,  following  Bras 
d'Or  lake  to  St  Patrick's  bay  (H).    At  Mid- 
dle river  he  killed  a  young  beaver,  whose 
bones  are  still  to  be  seen  there.     Then  Glus- 
kap  followed  the  beaver  until  he  lost  track 
of  him  for  a  while.     He  stood  at  Wi''sik 
(Indian  island),  and  took  a  piece  of  rock 
and  threw  toward  the  place  where  he  thought 
the  beaver  was.    This  rock  is  now  Red 
island  {Pauydnukte' gan)  (I).     This  started 
the  beaver  up,  and  he  ran  back  through  St 
Peter's  channel  and  burrowed  through  un- 
derneath, which  is  the  cause  of  the  crooks 
and  windings  there  now.     Then  the  chase 
continued  outside  in  the  ocean,  when  the 
beaver  struck  out  for  the  Bay  of  Fundy. 
Here   at   Pli'gank    ("Split   place"),    Split 
point,  Gluskap  dug  out  a  channel  with  his 


147 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


148 

BEOTHUK   AND    MIC MAC 

paddle,  forming  Minas  basin,  Nova  Scotia.^^ 
There  he  killed  the  beaver.     Near  here  is  a 
small  island,  which  is  the  pot  in  which  he 
cooked  the  beaver;  another  rock,  near  Pot 
Rock,  is  Gluskap's  dog  left  behind  at  this 
time.     Turtle     {Mi'ktcik)     was     Gluskap's 
uncle.     Here  with  his  pot  and  dog  he  turned 
Turtle  into  a  rock,  and  left  them  all  there. 
Near  where  he  killed  the  beaver  are  still  to 
be  seen  the  bones  turned  to  rock.     When  he 
broke  the  channel  in  Minas  basin  to  drain 
the   water   out,   in   order   to   uncover   the 
beaver,  he  left  it  so  that  today  the  water 
all  drains  out  at  each  tide,  hence  the  Bay  of 
Fundy  tides.     Then  he  crossed  over  east- 
ward   and    came    out    at    Pictou.     While 
there  he  taught  the  Micmac  how  to  make 
all  their  implements  for  hunting  and  fishing 
— bows,  arrows,  canoes,  and  the  like.     After 
a  while  he  prepared  to  leave,  and  told  the 
Indians:  "I  am  going  to  leave  you.    I  am 
going  to  a  place  where  I   can  never  be 
reached  by  a  white  man."    Then  he  prophe- 
sied the  coming  of  the  Europeans  and  the 
baptism  of  the  Micmac.     Then  he  called  his 
grandmother  from  Pictou,  and  a  young  man 

INDIAN    NOTES 

NOTES 

for  his  nephew,  and  departed,  going  to  the 
other  side  of  the  North  Pole  with  them. 
Again  he  said,  "  From  now  on,  if  there  should 
ever  be  a  war  between  you  and  any  other 
people,  I  shall  be  back  to  help  you."  He  is 
there  now,  busy  making  bows,  arrows,  and 
weapons  in  preparation  for  some  day  when 
the  white  man  may  assail  the  Micmac. 

NOTES 


1.  R.  H.  Lowie,  Primitive  Society,  Xew  York, 

1920. 

2.  There  is  nothing,  so  far  as  I  am  prepared 

as  yet  to  say;  in  the  somewhat  classifica- 
tory  kinship  system  of  the  tribe,  to  indi- 
cate necessarily  exogamy  or  anything 
more  complex  than  the  loose  family  kin- 
ship formation  which  prevails  today. 

Father  Chrestien  Le  Clercq,  New  Relation  of 
Gaspasia  ....  Paris,  1691,  reprinted  in 
I'ublications  of  the  Champlain  Society,  by 
W.  F.  Ganong  Toronto,  .  .  .  1910,  p.  237 
(original  edition,  p.  385). 

Ibid.,  p.  235  (original  edition,  p.  380). 

Ibid.,  p.  151. 

Nicholas  Denys,  The  Description  and  Nat- 
ural History  of  the  Coasts  of  North 
America  .  .  .  Paris,  1672,  reprinted  in 
Publications  of  the  Champlain  Society,  by 
W.  F.  Ganong,  Toronto,  1908,  p.  426. 

Le  Clercq,  op.  cit.,  p.  235. 


3. 


149 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


150 


BEOTHUK   AND    MICMAC 


8.  This  practice  is  confirmed  by  Le  Clercq  (op. 

cit,  p.  235):  "The  occupation  of  this 
chief  was  to  assign  the  places  for  hunting 
{de  regler  les  lieiix  de  chasse)." 

9.  S.  T.  Rand  asserts  that  the  chief  of  the  Cape 

Breton  band  was  regarded  as  the  head  of 
the  whole  Micmac  nation.  (Cf.  Micmac 
Place-names  in  the  Maritime  Provinces 
and  Gaspe  Peninsula,  Recorded  between 
1852  and  1890  by  Rev.  S.  T.  Rand,  col- 
lected and  arranged  by  Lieut-Col.  Wm. 
P.  Anderson,  Geographic  Board  of  Canada, 
Ottawa,  1919,  p.  45.)  Rand  gave  the 
meaning  of  "Green  boughs"  to  the  name 
Eskasongnik  (ibid.,  p.  27). 

10.  Anderson,  idem.,  p.  45,  note. 

11.  Le  Clercq,  op.  cit.,  pp.  35,  38. 

12.  Ibid.,  p.  39,  note. 

13.  By  an  acceptable  interpretation  the  name 

Passamaquoddy  means  "Those  whose 
occupation  is  pollock  fishing." 

14.  The  Malecite  enjoy  the  sobriquet  of  "Musk- 

rats"  among  the  Wabanaki,  especially 
among  those  of  St  Francis,  and  the 
Micmac. 

15.  G.  Mallery,  Picture-writing  of  the  Ameri- 

can Indians,  Tenth  Annual  Report  of  the 
Bureau  of  Ethnology,  pp.  378-379. 

16.  Compare  Speck,  Game  Totems  Among  the 

Northeastern  Algonkians,  American  An- 
thropologist, U.S.,  vol.  19,  no.  1,  1917. 

17.  J.  V.  Mays,  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Geo- 

graphical Society  of  Philadelphia,  corre- 
spondence with  the  writer,  Jan.  24,  1916. 


INDIAN    NOTES 


NOTES 


IS.  S.  T.  Rand,  Legends  of  the  Micmacs,  1894, 
Tale  21,  p.  170. 

19.  LeClercq,  op.  cit.,  p.  136  (in  original  edi- 
tion, p.  153). 

20.  Since  nw  talk  with  him,  McEwan  himself 

has  written  a  short  but  interesting  ac- 
count of  his  early  boyhood  in  which  he 
speaks  oi  being  his  uncle's  hunting  part- 
ner. Their  camps  were  then  on  Smith's 
and  Uish  lakes.  (Cf.  Nova  Scotia 
Guide's  Prize  Story,  by  John  McEwan, 
Forest  and  Stream,  October  1917,  p.  466.) 

21.  This  is  an  interesting  name.     It  is  regarded 

on  good  authority  as  a  variation  of 
Mi'gama-'gi,  "Land  of  the  Micmac"  (cf. 
IMicmac  Place-names,  op.  cit.,  p.  61). 

22.  In  Appendix  II  of  this  paper  is  given  an  ab- 

stract of  the  Cape  Breton  version  of  the 
travels  of  Gluskap  (cf.  F.  G.  Speck,  Some 
M  icmac  Tales  from  Cape  Breton  Island, 
Journal  of  American  Folk-lore,  vol.  xxviii, 
no.  107,  1915,  pp.  59-69). 

23.  A  captain  is  a  sub-chief. 

24.  A  Narrative  of  an  Extraordinary  Escape  out 

of  the  Hands  of  the  Indians  in  the  Gulf  of 
St.  Lawrence,  by  Gamaliel  Smethurst, 
London,  1774,  reprinted  by  W.  F.  Ga- 
nong,  Collections  of  the  New  Brunswick 
Historical  Society,  vol.  2,  1905,  p.  380. 

25.  Through   the   kindness   of   Mr    J.    Robert 

Mutch,  of  Mount  Herbert,  P.  Y..  I.,  this 
section  of  my  paper  was  conveyed  to  the 
hands  of  Chief  John  Sark  himself  for  re- 
vision after  its  completion.  ]VIr  Mutch 
reports  Chief  Sark  as  desiring  to  correct 


151 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


152 


BEOTHUK   AND    MIC MAC 


the  statement  about  his  being  hereditary 
chief  of  the  Prince  Edward  Island  band. 
"Chief  Sark's  father,  the  late  Chief 
Thomas  Sark,  died  when  Chief  John  Sark 
was  a  small  boy,  so  the  Micmacs  elected 
Peter  Bernard  as  acting  chief  until  John 
was  old  enough  to  hold  that  office. 
Peter  Bernard  died  before  many  years, 
and  the  Micmacs  elected  Joe  Francis  as 
acting  chief.  When  John  Sark  became 
of  the  necessary  age  to  hold  the  office  of 
chief,  Joe  Francis  would  not  resign.  Mr 
James  Yeo,  M.  P.  P.,  had  Joe  Francis 
swo:n  in  as  .'Chief  of  Prince  Edward 
Island  Micmac  Indians'  before  a  Justice 
of  the  Peace,  and  had  tlie  papers  sent  to 
Ottawa.  Another  Indian  belonging  to 
the  tribal  council  objected  to  Mr  Francis 
being  the  chief  for  life  and  sent  a  protest 
to  the  Department  of  Indian  Affairs  at 
Ottawa,  and  they  declared  a  general  elec- 
tion to  take  place  in  1897.  Mr  Sark  was 
elected  chief  in  that  election,  and  the 
Department  declared  that  hereafter  an 
election  must  be  held  every  three  years. 
So  that,  while  John  Sark  has  been  elected 
chief  by  acclamation  at  every  election 
with  the  exception  of  one  since  1897,  he 
is  not  the  hereditary  chief,  but  holds  the 
office  by  election."  (Correspondence  of 
Mr  Mutch,  May  10,  1920.) 
26.  In  Micmac  the  character  y  denotes  the  velar 
voiced  spirant  and  %  the  corresponding 
voiceless     consonant.     Ordinarily,     too. 


INDIAN    NOTES 


N  O  T  E  S 


both  g  and  k  are  pronounced  somewhat 
posteriorly. 

27.  Tuy-d-e'' gan  is  explained  as  a  place  in  some 

expanse  which  those  who  are  crossing 
make  for  without  knowing  whether  they 
\%'ill  succeed;  in  short,  an  expected  goal. 

28.  Another  sea  voyage  of  no  little  consequence 

which  the  ]\Iicmac  were  formerly  accus- 
tomed to  make  was  the  trip  from  Cape 
North,  Cape  Breton,  to  the  Magdalen 
islands,  lying  in  the  Gulf  of  St  Lawrence 
about  sixty  miles  to  the  northwest.  The 
]\Iagdalens  derive  their  name  from  a 
Micmac  woman  who,  according  to  a 
legend,  was  abandoned  there.  By  mean? 
of  fish  and  gulls'  eggs  she  subsisted  until 
her  folks  returned.  I  have  recorded  also 
a  somewhat  similar  tale  from  the  ]\Iale- 
cite.  While  the  theme  of  this  story  itself 
is  an  old  native  one,  its  particular  appli- 
cation in  this  case  is  modern,  a  fact  be- 
trayed by  the  European  name  of  the 
heroine.  In  an  interesting  and  thorough 
discussion  of  the  histor}'  and  formation 
of  the  ^lagdalen  group,  J.  M.  Clarke 
quotes  a  passage  from  Breard  (Journal  du 
Corsaire  Jean  Doublet  de  Ilonjlcur,  1883), 
explaining  how  the  islands  were  named 
after  Madeleine,  the  wife  of  Francois 
Doublet,  of  Honfleur,  who  visited  the 
.  islands  and  attempted  to  colonize  them 
in  1663  (Bulletin  .Yci^'  York  State  Museum, 
no.  149,  Report  of  the  Director,  1910; 
Observations  on  the  Magdalen  Islands,  by 
J.  M.  Clarke,  p.  139).     An  earlier  notice 


153 


AXD    MONOGRAPHS 


154 


BEOTHUK   AND    MICMAC 


indicates  that  Indians  were  found  among 
the  inhabitants  as  far  back  as  1593  (ibid., 
p.  138).  That  the  Indians  also  had  con- 
cern with  the  Magdalens  in  1721  is  shown 
in  a  letter  to  Father  Rasles  written  b\' 
M.  de  Vaudreuil  (Jesuit  Relations, 
Thwaites  edition,  vol.  67,  p.  63-65).  In 
this  connection  it  may  be  added  that 
several  remarkable  feats  of  navigation 
are  claimed  to  have  been  accomplished  by 
members  of  the  Yarmouth  band.  Abram 
Toney,  the  late  chief,  is  alleged  to  have 
been  forced  to  pass  a  night  on  the  whist- 
ling buoy  twenty-one  miles  from  Yar- 
mouth, riorthwest,  when  overtaken  by  a 
sudden  storm.  Such  things  happen  when 
the  Indians  are  outside  hunting  por- 
poises. The  same  adventurer  is  said  to 
have  made  the  trip  by  canoe  to  Grand 
Manaan.  Another  Micmac  with  his 
wife  and  child  is  said  to  have  crossed 
from  Digby  to  St  Johns,  N.  B. 

29.  A  similar  tale  is  recorded  by  Rand    (Leg- 

ends of  the  Micmacs,  p.  200)  to  account 
for  a  war  between  the  ]\Iicmac  and  the 
Iroquois.  Cf.  also  J.  D.  Prince,  Passa- 
maquoddy  Documents,  Atmals  of  the 
Xeii'  York  Academy  of  Sciences,  vol.  xi, 
no.  15,  1898,  pp.  371-372. 

30.  See,  part  I   of  this  volume:  Studies  of  the 

Beothuk  and  Micmac  of  Newfoundland, 
p.  45  and  table  of  comparisons. 

31.  Rand  (Legends  of   the   :\licmacs,   pp.  408, 

432),   also   refers   several   times    to    the 


INDIAN    NOTES 


NOTES 


"Sagawachkik"  as  "the  ancients"  figur- 
ing in  ]\licmac  tradition. 

32.  We  also  know  that  in  1765  Governor  Pal- 

liser  undertook  measures  to  suppress 
^Micmac  migration  from  Cape  Breton  to 
Newfound  and,  on  account  of  the  increase 
of  these  Indians  along  the  southwestern 
coast  of  the  island.  (Cf.  Chas.  Pedley, 
History  of  Newfoundland,  London,  1863, 
p.  121.) 

33.  Lieutenant  Edward  Chappell,  R.  N.,  Voy- 

age of  his  JNIaJesty's  Ship  Rosamond  to 
Newfoundland  and  the  Coast  of  Labrador, 
London,  1818,  pp.  76-77. 

34.  Cormack,    an    explorer    who    crossed    the 

island  in  1822,  mentions  encountering  an 
old  ]\Iontagnais  named  James  John  (cf. 
p.  132,  family  no.  4),  who  was  married  to  a 
Micmac  woman  in  the  interior.  Later, 
in  1828,  Cormack  had  a  Montagnais,  a 
Micmac,  and  an  Abnaki  with  him  as 
guides  in  his  quest  of  Beothuk  survivors. 

35.  Since  then  I  was  told  some  Montagnais  once 

again  attempted  to  lodge  in  Newfound- 
land, but  the  band  was  expelled  by  the 
authorities  in  order  to  protect  the  beaver. 

36.  Several  Indian  families  trace  descent  from 

individuals  said  to  have  belonged  to  a 
tribe  called  K:n'i''heu'a'tc,  living  far  to 
the  west.  Among  the  ^licmac  in  general 
the  term  is  applied  to  the  Penobscot  and 
the  St  Francis  Abnaki.  While  the  Mic- 
mac do  not  analyze  it  so,  the  term  is 
evidently  "Long  River  people"  a  syno- 
nym for  the    Kennebec  {K-wun'i''bek"^), 


155 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


156 


BEOTHUK   AND    MICMAC 


River  tribe  of  Maine,  Penobscot  or  St 
Francis  Abnaki. 

37.  William  P.  Anderson,  Micmac  Place  Names, 

Recorded  by  S.  T.  Rand,  Ottawa,  1919, 
p.  60. 

38.  J.  P.  Howley,  The  Beothucks  or  Red  In- 

dians, the  Aboriginal  Inhabitants  of  New- 
foundland, Cambridge  University  Press, 
1915,  pp.  130-168. 

39.  Ibid.,  p.  148. 

40.  Ibid.,  p.  149. 

41.  Ibid.,  p.  150. 

42.  Ibid.,  pp.  151-152. 

43.  Ibid.,  p.  157. 

44.  Ibid.,  p.  159. 

45.  This  is  now  known  as  Fairy  Holes,  between 

St  Ann's  bay  and  Great  Bras  d'Or.  The 
Micmac  tell  how,,  sixty-eight  years  ago, 
five  Indians — Joe  Bernard,  Francis  Ber- 
nard, Clement  Bernard,  Joe  Newell,  and 
Tom  Newell — entered  the  caves  which 
honeycomb  this  headland,  carrj'ing  seven 
torches.  They  walked  as  far  as  the 
torches  would  light  them,  about  a  mile 
and  a  half,  found  eight  brooks  in  the 
caves,  and  when  they  came  out  discov- 
ered how  a  rock  three  hundred  feet  wide 
had  moved  since  they  had  entered!  The 
Indians  naturally  regard  these  caves  as 
very  mysterious. 

46.  The  scene  of  the  myth  becomes  changed  to 

Nova  Scotia,  where  the  localities  of  the 
actions  correspond  more  closely  with 
those  in  the  version  of  the  Nova  Scotia 
bands  recorded  by  Rand. 


INDIAN    NOTES 


157 


INDEX 

Ahmki,  emigration  of,  to  Newfoundland,  143; 
guide  of  Cormack,  155;  hunting  territory 
among,  86.     See  St  Francis  Ahnaki;  Wabanaki 

Aisi'me''nt.s,  jMontagnais  term  for  JSIicmac,  119 

Alder-hark,  pigments  from,  34,  36-37 

Algonhian,  Beothuk  culture  related  to,  31-33, 
48,  69-70,  75;  Beothuk  descent  from,  13-15; 
Beothuk  words  resembling,  76;  charms  char- 
acteristic of,  43;  hunting  territory  among,  71, 
83-84,  86-87,  91 

Alliance  of  Micmac,  with  French,  124;  with 
Mohawk,     107 

Ancestry,  animal,  of  Penobscot,  85,  87.  See 
Tot  em  ism 

Anderson,  11';)?.  P.,  Micmac  Place-names,  cited, 
94,  140,  150,  156 

Animals,  figured  on  coats,  34;  killing  of,  among 
Micmac,  89;  tabooed,  killing  of,  122;  totemic 
significance  of,  85,  87,  95-98^ 

Annapolis,  Nova  Scotia,  comprised  in  ^Micmac 
chieftaincy,  95 

Annual  ceremony,  of  Beothuk,  62-64;  of  Mic- 
mac, 120 

Anthropological  Survey  of  Canada,  ethnological 
collection  gathered  for,  19 

Antler,  caribou,  on  Beothuk  sites,  21;  cracked, 
on    Beothuk   site,   22;    harpoon-heads,   Mic- 


I  N  D I A  X    NOTES 


158 


B  E  O  T  H  U  K  A  N  D  :\1 1  C  M  A  C 


mac-Montagnais,  40;  implements,  Algonkian, 
44.     See  Caribou-aniler 

Arctic  zones,  social  life  of  tribes  of,  84 

Arrow,  Beothuk  sacrifice  of,  62;  in  totemic 
emblem,  96;  arrows  (ISIicmac),  art  of ,  taught 
by  Gluskap,  148 

Asikki'gamiik,  Newfoundland,  Micmac  settle- 
ment of,  121 

Athabascan  affinity  with  Beothuk,  71-72 

Attkhoro,  Mass.,  Santu  at,  58,  79 

Awl,  bone,  Beothuk,  60;  bone,  Micmac-^Ion- 
tagnais,  39;  iron,  on  Beothuk  site,  21 

Axes,  iron,  on  Beothuk  sites,  22 

Bachofen,  theories  of,  on  social  evolution,  84 
Badger,  absent  from  Newfoundland,  131 
Badger's  Brook,   Beothuk  remains  at,  40,  48; 

Beothuk  site,  20;  Beothuk  tradition  from,  53; 

hunting  charm  at,  43;  John  Paul  of,  27 
Badger's  brook,  wigwam-pits  along,  24-25 
Bags,   among   ]\licmac-Montagnais,   39 
Band,   Indian,   at   Oldtown,   Me.,    115;   bands 

among  ^licmac,   92-93;   :Micmac,   listed   by 

Cormack,     143-144;     totemic    emblems    of, 

95-98.     See  Gens 
Bands,  metal,  on  Beothuk  sites,  21 
Bank's  pi  fie,  non-edible  rind  of,  77 
Bark,  canoes,  Beothuk,  32-33,  43;   receptacles, 

Beothuk,     76;      superstructure     of     winter 

wigwams,  31-32,   73-74.     See  Birch-bark 
Basketry,  see  Splint  basketry 
Baskets,   jMicmac-Montagnais,   mainland  origin 

of,  41 
Bathnrst,  Micmac  name  for,  140 


INDIAN    NOTES 


INDEX 


Bay  d'Espoir,  Micmac  band  at,  137-138,  143; 
]Slontagnais  wintering  on,  142 

Bay  of  Despair,  see  Bay  d'Espoir 

Bay  of  Fitndv,  tides  of,  created  bv  Gluskap, 
147-148 

Bay  of  Islands,  ilicmac  band  at,  143 

Bay  Si  George,  see  Si  George's  bay 

Beacon  fires,  on  Cape  North,  120;  on  Cape 
Ray,  26 

Beadwork,  colored  designs  in  place  of,  39 

Bear,  hunting  of,  in  Newfoundland,  131 

Bear  River,  a  village  of  the  Micmac,  93,  94 

Bear  River  band,  hunting  territory  of,  106 

Bear-skin,  wool  from,  37 

Beaton  family,  hunting  territories  of,  128 

Bealon,  William,  on  robbery  committed  by 
Beothuk,  53 

Beaver,  chase  of,  by  Gluskap,  147-148;  harpoons 
for  spearing,  Micmac-]\Iontagnais,  40;  hunt- 
ing of,  in  Newfoundland,  131;  Newfoundland 
legend  concerning,  126-127 

Beaver-skin,  Beothuk  clothing  lined  with,  43; 
wool  from,  37 

Beheading  of  enemies  among  Beothuk,  50,  54 

Belle  Isle,  see  Straits  of  Belle  Isle 

Belts,  Micmac,  weaving  of,  37-38 

Benoit  family,  at  Bay  d'Espoir,  138 

Beothuk,  or  Red  Indians,  affinity  of,  with  Atha- 
bascan, 71-72;  Algonkian  descent  of,  13-15; 
annual  ceremony  of,  62-64;  Buchan's  exjiedi- 
tion  to  capture,  49-50;  Cormack's  researches 
among,  141-145;  culture,  origin  of,  44-46, 
69-70;  culture,  survivals  from,  among  IMic- 
mac-Montagnais,  29-30.  32-33,  36,  38,  43-46, 
60,  74-76,  118,  122-123;  descendants  of,  66; 


159 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


160 


BEOTHUKAND  MICMAC 


extermination  of,  12,  54,  117-119,  121;  food 
of,  61-62;  Gatschet  on,  44-45;  iiair  remover, 
40;  in  relation  to  hunting  territories,  129-130; 
last  survivors  of,  139;  marriage  of,  with  other 
tribes,  65;  paucity  of  information  on,  11-12; 
Santu  descendant  of,  55-60,  67-69;  sites  of, 
12,  20,  24-25,  40,  48;  smoking  among,  41; 
traditions  concerning,  15-19,  25-29,  43,  46- 
54;  vocabulary,  66-67,  76;  winter  wigwams 
of,  31-32,  73-74 

Bernard  family,  at  Bay  d'Espoir,  138;  Fairy 
Holes  visited  by  members  of,  156 

Bernard,  Peter,  former  chief  of  Prince  Edward 
Island  band,  152 

Berrv-gaihering  districts  on  Cape  Breton  island, 
113 

Birch,  edible  rind  of,  45,  77 

Birch-bark,  maps,  Micmac,  98-99,  142;  pipe, 
Micmac-Montagnais,  41;  receptacles,  Algon- 
kian,  43;  wigwams,  30-31,  113 

Black  pigment,  34 

Black  weasel,  legend  concerning,  28-29 

Blanket,  gambling-game  played  on,  63,  80 

Blocks,  hair  dressed  over,  35 

Blueberries,  pigments  from,  34 

Blue  pigment,  34 

Bodies,  dyeing  of,  Beothuk,  15,  17,  43,  51, 
63-64,  73 

Bonavista  bay,  Micmac  band  on,  143 

Bone,  awls,  Beothuk,  60;  dehairer,  Beothuk, 
24-25;  implements,  characteristic  Algonkian, 
44;  implements,  Montagnais,  127;  snowshoe 
needles,  Micmac-Montagnais,  39;  bones,  ani- 
mal, on  Beothuk  sites,  21-22;  transformed  to 
rock  by  Gluskap,  146-148 


IND IAN    NOTES 


INDEX 


Bone-crackers,  stone,  on  Beothuk  sites,  24 
Bonne  Bay,    Micmac   band   at,    143;    jNIicmac 

settlement  at.  137;  Mitchell  hunting  on,  135; 

Montagnais  settlements  north  of,  126-127 
Bonnycastle,    R.    H.,    Newfoundland    in    1842, 

cited,  77 
Boot-moccasin,  Beothuk,  36,  122;  JNIicmac  term 

For,  74. 
Boots,  Beothuk,  43.  51;  Beothuk  influence  on, 

35-37 
Boundaries    of    hunting    territories,    94.     See 

Crosses 
Bow  and  arroic,  caribou  killed  with,  61-62;  in 

totemic  emblem,  96;  bou<s,  art  of,  taught  by 

Gluskap.  148 
Bras  d'Or  lake,  Gluskap's  passage  through,  147 
Br  card,  cited,  153 

Brooks,  John,  acknowledgment  to,  94 
Bro'iin  pigment,  34 

Brichan's  expedition,  account  of,  49-50,  77-78 
Burgeo,  first  Micmac  settlements  at,  27 
Burial  of  ^Iar>'  March,  78;  burials,  red  ocher  in 

pre-Algonkian,  13 
Burke,  Matheu.',  at  Bay  d'Espoir,  138 

Cabot  strait,  crossing  of,  by  Micmac,  120-121 
Camp,    Beothuk,    at    Red    Indian    point,    49; 

Beothuk,  on  Hodge's  mountain,  48;  Beothuk, 

on    voyage,    61;    camps,    Micmac,    on    Cape 

Breton,    113-114 
Camp-sites,  Beothuk,  on  Red  Indian  lake,  20- 

22,  46-47 
Canada,    Beothuk    sites   in,    12;    migration    of 

Abnaki  from,  143;  Santu  in,  59 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


161 


162 


BEOTHUKAND  MICMAC 


Canoe,  Gluskap's,  146;  in  totemic  emblem,  97; 
voyages   by,   26,    28,    119-125,    154;   canoes, 
Beothuk,  13,  32-33,  43,  44,  60-61,  74,  122; 
Beothuk   and   Micmac,    meeting   of,    51-52; 
Micmac,  art  of,  taught  by  Gluskap,  148 
Canoe-mat,  Gluskap's,  146-147 
Canso,  comprised  in  Micmac  chieftaincy,  95 
Cape  Breton,  dialect  of,  37 
Cape  Breton  island,  Gluskap  myth  of,  145-149; 
Alicmac:  chiefs  of,  131,  144,  150;  chieftaincy 
of,  94-95,  106-107,  125-126,  144,  150;  dice- 
and-bowl   game    in,    80;    hunting   territories 
in,  86-87,  106-114,  130,  136;  voyagers  from, 
25-27,  119,  124-125,  155 
Cape  Chignecto,  in  Micmac  chieftaincy,  95 
Cape  Negro,  chieftaincy  named  from,  95 
Cape  North,  Gluskap  created  at,  146;  Micmac 

voyagers  from,  26-27,  119-120 
Cape  Ray,  Micmac  voyages  to,  26-27,  119-120 
Cape  Sable,  chieftaincy  named  from,  95 
Capote,  distinctively  Micmac,  34.     i-'ee  Coats 
Caps,  edged  with  colored  designs,  38-39;  peaked, 

of  women,  35 
Capture  of  Beothuk,  see  Extermination 
Caribou,  abundance  of,  in  Newfoundland,  129; 
calf-skin  coats  of,   IMicmac-Montagnais,   35; 
fences,  Beothuk,  19-20;  fences  in  Labrador, 
73;   food   of   Beothuk,   61-62;   harpoons   for 
spearing,    ^Vlicmac-Montagnais,    40;    hunted 
by  Beothuk,  49;  hunting  territories  concerned 
with,   131 
Caribou-antler,  on  Beothuk  sites,  21;  snowshoe 

needles,  Micmac-Montagnais,  39-40 
Caribou-skin,     bags     in     Newfoundland,     39; 
Beothuk:  bone  implement  for  dehairing,  24- 


INDIAN    NOTES 


INDEX 


25;  clothing  of,  43;  foot-wear  of,  35-36,  51, 
75;  wigwam  lined  with,  48;  canoes,  60;  capote 
of  Newfoundland,  34;  wool  from,  37 

Carlu-righi,  Journal,  cited,  73-75 

Catiglinaicaga,  Quebec,  Iroquois  of,  107 

Caves,  see  Fairy  Holes 

Ceremonial  simplicity  of  Beothuk.  15.  Fee 
Annual  ceremony 

Chapel  island,  ^Micmac  festival  at,  120;  Alicmac 
settlement  at,  107 

Chap  pell,  Edward,  Voyage  _  of  H.  M.'s  Ship 
Rosamond,  cited,  124—125,  155 

Charms,  among  Micmac-Montagnais,  42-43 

Charts,  see  Maps 

Checkenvork  design  on  caribou-skin  coats,  34 

Chegogun  harbor,  Micmac  name  for,  140 

Chert  chips  on  Beothuk  sites,  21 

Chief,  Beothuk,  wigwam  of,  22;  ]Micmac,  bark 
map  belonging  to,  98;  ]Micmac,  gift  of  schooner 
to,  121;  ]\licmac  hunting  territories  distrib- 
uted by,  88,  92,  150;  of  Newfoundland  band, 
125-126;  chiefs,  ^licmac  districts  divided 
among,  94-95;  ]\Iicmac,  French  names  of, 
114;  Micmac,  numerous  family  determining, 
91;  ^licmac,  of  Cape  Breton  island,  94-95, 
106-107,  125-126,  131,  144,  150.  See  Grand 
chief 

Chieftaincies,  Micmac,  94-95 

Children,  Beothuk,  dyeing  of,  63;  Micmac- 
Montagnais,  dress  of,  35 

Chippewan  stock,  reputed  relation  of  Beothuk  to, 
71 

Chips  on  Beothuk  sites,  21,  24 

Chisels,  slate,  pre-Algonkian,  13-14 


163 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


164 


B  E  O  T  H  U  K  A  N  D  M  I  C  M  A  C 


Cibonx  islands,  Gluskap's  canoe  broken  on,  146 

Clan,  see  Gens 

Clarke,  J.  M.,  Observations  on  the  Magdalen 
Islands,  cited,  153 

Clay,  red,  Beothuks  stained  with,  51 

Clode  sound,  IMicmac  band  at,  143 

Clollmig  suspended  from  hoop,  31.     See  Dress 

Coats,  children's,  of  Micmac-Montagnais,  35; 
hooded,  Beothuk,  43;  sealskin,  Micmac- 
Montagnais,  34.     See  Capole 

Codroy,  JMicmac  at,  137 

Color  of  Beothuk,  44,  51;  colors,  determining 
patterns,  38;  rabbit-wool  bands  in,  38-39. 
See  Dyeing;  Painting;  Red 

Conne  river,  Micmac  settlements  at,  27,  121,  137 

Cooking  utensils,  suspended  from  hoop,  31 

Cope,  a  common  Micmac  surname,  79.  See 
Kop 

Coptis  trifolia,  see  Yellow  thread 

Cormack,  Wm.  E.,  Narrative,  cited,  33,  73,  74, 
80,  141-145 

Counters  in  Beothuk  dice-and-bowl  game,  62 

Crooked  knife,  Micmac  term  for,  75;  IMicmac- 
Montagnais,  39 

Cross,  emblem  of  Miramichi  Indians,  96; 
crosses,  hunting  and  fishing  territories  marked 
by,  89,  106 

Culture,  Beothuk,  material,  13-15,  20-22, 
24-25,  29-46,  74-76,  122-123,  169-170; 
Beothuk,  social,  62-64,  80;  Micmac-IMont- 
agnais,  material,  18-19,  83-86;  Micmac- 
Montagnais,  social,  83-86.  See  Hunting 
territory 

Culture-hero,  see  Gluskap 


INDIAN   NOTES 


INDEX 


Dahl,  R.  5.,  interest  of,  in  Santu,  79;  on  Micmac 

settlements   and   hunters   in   Newfoundland , 

137-138 
Dance,  Beothuk,  after  murder,  54 
Dau'son,  Sir  William,  on  Beothuk  origins,_71-72 
Day,  John,  Peyton  accompanied  by,  50,  53 
Death,  washing  connected  with,  80 
Decoration  of  caribou-skin  coat,  34-35 
Deer,  in  to.temic  emblem,  97 
Deer-fcnccs,  Beothuk,  46-47.     See  Caribou 
Denys,  John,  Grand  chief  of  ^Micmac,  107,  149 
Denys,  Nicholas,  cited,  46,  74,  89,  149 
Denys.  Tomah,  migration  of  ]\Iicmac  under,  108 
Descendants  of  Beothuk,  69.     See  Santu 
Designs  on  coats,  34 
Dice-and-boiii  game  of  Beothuk,  62-63 
Digby,  canoe  voyage  from,  154;  hunting  claim 

in  court  at,  98 
Dildo  Arm,  accident  to  Beothuk  near,  52 
Discs,  of  dice-and-bowl  game,  63,  80 
Dog,    Gluskap's,     148;    non-domestication    of, 

among  Beothuk,  44 
Doublet,  Jean  and  Francois,  interest  of,  in  ]Mag- 

dalen  i.slands.  153 
Doublet,   Madeleine,   Magdalen   islands   named 

for,  153 
Dress,  Beothuk,  17,  43;  Beothuk  survivals  in, 

:Micmac-Montagnais,   33-39;   ^Micmac-^NIont- 

agnais,  adorned  with  colored  designs,  38-39; 

Montagnais,  in  Newfoundland,  127 
Dyeing  of  bodies,  Beothuk,  15,  17,  43,  51,  63- 

'64,  73;  of  caribou-skin  bag,  Micmac-Montag- 

nais,  39;  of  moccasins,  Beothuk,  36-37,  122. 

See  Clay;  Painting 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


165 


166 


E  E  O  T  H  U  K  A  N  D  M  I  C  M  A  C 


Ears,  hair  dressed  over,  in  Newfoundland,  35 

East,  artifacts  typical  of,  25,  44 

Ebegwi-  denax,  Micmac  for  Prince  Edward 
Island  Indians,  114-115 

Election  of  chief  of  Micmac  band,  152 

Emblems,  animal,  95-98.     See  Totemisin 

Embroidery  among  Montagnais,  39 

English,  grant  from,  to  Micmac,  124^-125;  St 
George's  river  named  by,  28;  war  of,  with 
French,  108 

Eskasoni,  capital  village  of  jVIicmac  tribe,  93, 
107,  125,  150 

Eskegawaage,  a  Micmac  chieftaincy,  95 

Eskimo,  culture,  Beothuk  related  to,  11-12,  40, 
41,  70;  culture,  survivals  in  Newfoundland, 
127;  hide  canoes  of,  ii;  marriages  of,  with 
Beothuk,  65 

Ethnological  table,  45-46 

Exogamy,  149;  among  Ojibwa,  85;  not  practised 
among  Micmac,  87,  113 

Exploits  river,  Beothuk  sites  on,  12,  19,  24-25; 
Buchan's  expedition  up,  49,  77;  ethnological 
collection  from  region  of,  44;  hunting  terri- 
tories around,  129;  murder  near,  53-54;  red 
clay  on,  51;  schooner's  clock  found  on,  53 

Extermination  of  Beothuk,  11-13,  18,  47,  49- 
51,  53-54,  77-78,  117 

Fairy  Holes,  Gluskap's  home  at,  146,  156 
Family  group,  among  Algonkians,  87;  among 

iVIicmac,  89-91 
Family  hunting  territory,  see  Hunting  territory 
Famine,  bark  eaten  in,  45,  77.     See  Starvation 
Fear,    cause    of    Beothuk    destruction,    28-29, 

47-48,  52,  144 


INDIAN    NOTES 


INDEX 


Fences,  caribou,  Beothuk,  19-20;  caribou,  in 
Labrador,  73;  deer,  Beothuk,  46-47 

Fire-arms,  Beothuk  fear  of,  28,  47,  52,  144 

Fire-place  of  Beothuk,  21,  24 

Fires,  see  Beacon  fires;  Forest  fires 

Fish  eggs,  as  food,  153 

Fisher,  absent  from  Newfoundland,  131 

Fishermen,  Beothuk  forays  on,  21 

Fishing,  districts,  ]\Iicmac,  113,  117;  imple- 
ments, ]\Iicmac,  148;  in  Newfoundland,  131 

Fish-spears  of  Micmac-Montagnais,  40-41 

Flakes,  see  Chips 

Flint  chips  on  Beothuk  sites,  21 

Folklore,  see  Legend 

Food,  Beothuk,  21,  61-62 

Forest  fires,  destruction  of  Beothuk  fences  by, 
19-20 

Fox,  hunting  of,  in  Newfoundland,  131 

Frameivork  of  Beothuk  canoe,  60 

Francis.  Joe,  former  chief  of  Prince  Edward 
Island  band,  152 

French,  blood  in  Micniac  chief,  144;  jMicmac 
allies  of,  108,  124;  names  of  JMicmac  chiefs, 
114;  schooners,  ^licmac  voyages  on,  120-121 

Fur,  Beothuk  garments  lined  with,  43 

Gabriel,  a   Micmac  encountered   by   Cormack, 

144-145 
Gambo,  Micmac  settlement  at,  137 
Games,  of  Beothuk,  62-63;  of  JMicmac,  80 
Game-totem ,  see  Use-tolem 
Ganda  Bay,  Micmac  band  at,  143 
Gander  lake,  hunting  territories  around,  129 
Ganong,  W.  F.,  cited,  46,  74,  96,  149,  151 
Garters,  Micmac,  weaving  of,  37 


167 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


168 


BEOTHUKAND  MICMAC 


Gaspesians,  see  LeClcrcq 

Galschet,  A.  S.,  cited  on  Beothuk,  11,  44-45 

Gens,  among  Micmac,  91,  95-98;  exogamic,  of 
Algonkian,  85,  87 

Geological  Survey  of  Canada,  ethnological  sur- 
veys made  for,  83-85 

Geological  Survey  of  Ncufoundland,  collections 
in  museum  of,  43^i4;  Howley  of,  55 

Gesliculalion,  among  Beothuk,  66 

Glenwood,  Newfoundland,  Micmac  settlement 
at,  137 

Gloucester,  Mass.,  discovery  of  Santu  at,  56; 
Toney  at,  79 

Gluskap,  Cape  Breton  version  of,  145-149,  151; 
Micmac   culture-hero,    109 

Goldenweiser,  A.  A.,  use-totem  discussed  by,  85 

Gontgont,  Emanuel,  Cormack  housed  by,  145 

Grand  chief  of  Micmac,   106-107 

Grand  lake,  hunting  territories  around,  129; 
last  appearance  of  Beothuk  at,  54 

Grand  Manaan,  canoe  voyage  to,  154 

Grandmother,   Gluskap's,    148 

Graves,  Beothuk,  perforated  teeth  in,  43 

Great  Bras  d'Or,  Gluskap's  passage  through,  147 

Great  Cod  Roy  river,  Micmac  band  at,  143 

Great  Lakes,  Santu  living  on,  59;  wigwam  con- 
struction characteristic  of,  31 

Greenland,  intermarriages  of  Beothuk  in,  65 

Gulf  of  St  Lawrence,  Micmac  voyages  in,  125,  153 

Gull  eggs  as  food,  153 

Gunpowder,  Beothuk  blown  up  with,  50 

Gunwale,  Beothuk  type  of,  32-33 

Hair,  Beothuk  style  of  dressing,  35  . 
Hair-removers  of  Micmac-Montagnais,  39-49 


INDIAN    NOTES 


INDEX 


Halifax,  comprised  in  Micniac  chieftaincy,  95 
Hall's  Bay,  ilicmac  settlement  at,  137 
Hammers,  stone,  on  Beothuk  sites,^24 
Hampton  Beach,  X.  H.,  Santu  at,  67 
Handles,  wooden,  of  awls,  39 
Hare-skin,  wool  from,  37 

Harpoon,  Beothuk,  61;  Micmac  term  for,  76; 
:Micmac-Montagnais,     40-41;     sea-mammals 
killed  with,  61-62 
Hartigan,  Mr,  Beothuk  traditions  related  by,  52 
Hartland,  E.  S.,  on  social  evolution,  84 
Hide-scrapers,  of  Micmac-^Iontagnais,  39-40 
Hinx  family,  at  Bay  d'Espoir,  138 
Hodge's  mountain,   Beothuk   traditions  of,  48, 

139 
Hoop,  used  in  wigwam  construction,  31,  73-74 
Houley,  J.  P.,  acknowledgment  to,   141;  Beo- 
thuics  or  Red  Indians  of  Newfoundland,  cited, 
15,    17,    32,   41,   46,    71-77,    156;   collection 
gathered  by,  43-44;  list  of  Micmac  settlements 
obtained  from,  137;  on  veracity  of  Santu,  55- 
56 
Hudsonian  zones,  social  life  of  tribes  of,  84 
Hunting,  cam})s,  Micmac,  on  Cape  Breton,  113- 
114;  importance  of,  in  Newfoundland,   14vS- 
144;  Micmac  implements  for,  148;  Micmac- 
Montagnais   charms   for,   42-43;   of   caribou 
by  Beothuk,   19-20,   73;  on   Prince  Edward 
island,  115 
Hunting  territory,  Algonkian  society  based  on, 
71,  83-86;  in  interior,  139,  144;  Micmac,  aver- 
age size  of.  136-137;  Micmac,  in  Cape  Breton 
island,    106-114;    Micmac,   in    Nova   Scotia, 
86-106;   Micmac,  in   Prince  Edward  island, 
114-117;  Micmac-Montagnais,  in  Newfound- 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


169 


170 


B  E  O  T  H  U  K  A  N  D  M  I  C  M  A  C 


land,   117-138,   143-144;   probable   Beothuk, 
139,  144 

Implements,  on  Beothuk  sites,  21,  22,  24;  stone, 

pre-Algonkian,  13.      See  Fishing  implements; 

Hunting;  Lances;  Stone  age 
Indian  island,  Me.,  wgwam-pits  on,  31 
Indian  island,  N.  S.,  Gluskap  starts  beaver  at, 

147 
Inheritance,  of  hunting  territories,  86,  92,  113, 

117-118,  135-136 
Interior,  flight  of  Beothuk  to,  28-29;  hunting 

territories  in,  139,  144 
Iron  implements  on  Beothuk  sites,  21,  24.     See 

Metal 
Iroquois,  hostihty  of,  to  Wabanaki,  29;  Alic- 

mac  relations  with,  107,  154 

Jack,  E.,  on  Beothuk  traditions,  17 
Jack  pine,  see  Bank's  pine 
J eddore  family,  at  Bay  d'Espoir,  138 
Joe,  Andrew,  hunting  territory  df,  135-136 
Joe  family,  at  Bay  d'Espoir,  138 
Joe,  John,  Gluskap  myth  related  by,  146-149 
Joe,  Tom,  hunting  magic  of,  127;  hunting  terri- 
tory of,  135-136 
John  family,  at  Bay  d'Espoir,  138;  hunting  terri- 
tories of,  128 
John,  James,  mentioned  by  Cormack,  142,  155 
John,  Louis,  account  of  last  Beothuk  by,  48, 
53-54;   on   relations   between    Beothuk   and 
Micmac,  54;  share  in  hunting  territory  offered 
by,  131 
Jore,  Ben,  grandfather  of,  killed  bv  Beothuk, 
53-54 


INDIAN    NOTES 


INDEX 


Jukes,    J.    B.,    Excursions    in    Xewfoundland, 

cited,  73 
Julian,  Joe,  share  in  hunting  territory  ofifered 

to,  131 

Kaspoog'ii'il,  a  Alicmac  chieftaincy,  95 

Kayak,  Beothuk  canoe  like,  60-61 

Keel,  Beothuk  tyqpe  of,  32 

Keelson,  of  Beothuk  canoe,  79 

Ksn'i'be'wa'lc,  Micmac  term  for  Penobscot,  155- 

156 
Kennebec  River  band,  Micmac  term  for,  155-156 
Killing  of  tabooed  animal,  122 
King  George  I V  lake,  Mitchell  hunting  territory 

about,  135 
Knives,  iron,  on  Beothuk  sites,  21-24.  See  Crooked 

knife 
Kop,  name  of  Santu's  father,  57,  58 

r.abrador,  Beothuk  descendants  in,  69;  Beothuk 
relations  with,  65;  caribou  fences  in,  73; 
^licniac  vovages  to,  125;  Montagnais  migra- 
tion from,  25,  118,  126-127,  141,  143;  Montag- 
nais  of,  15-16,  35.  48; 
Lake   Wasanipi,  survey  of  hunting   territories 

from,  85 
Lance-heads,  slate,  pre-Algonkian,  13-14 
Lances,  Micmac-Montagnais,  40-^1 
Landmarks,  Micmac,  in  Xewfoundland,  26-27 
Language  of  Beothuk,  authorities  on,   11-13 
Leather,  d\eing  of,  Beothuk.  122 
Leaves,  smoking  of,  among  Beothuk,  62 
LeClercq,    Father    Chretien,    Xew    Relation    of 
Gaspesia,  cited,  46,  71,  74,  88,  89,  91,  96, 
98-99,  149-150 


171 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


172 


B  E  O  T  H  U  K  A  N  D  M  I  C  AI  A  C 


Legend,  of  beaver,  126-127;  of  black  weasel,  28; 
of  Gluskap,  145-149;  of  Hodge's  mountain, 
48,  139;  of  ^lagdalen  islands,  153;  of  moose, 
115;  of  quarrel  between  Beothuk  and  IVIic- 
mac,  122,  154.  See  Traditions 
Leggings,  Beothuk,  17 

Leland,  C.  G.,  Algonquin  Legends  of  New  Eng- 
land, cited,  72-73 
Lewis,  Reuben,  chief,  at  Bay  d'Espoir,  138 
Liltle  river,  Micmac  camp  on,  144-145 
Lloyd,  T.  G.  B.,  on  Beothuk  vocabulary,  67 
Logs,  winter  wigwams  of,  31-32,  73-74 
Loin  dollt,  Beothuk,  17 

Look-out  tree  at  Red  Indian  point,  23,  78-79 
Loom,  Micmac,  37-38 
Louis,  Noel,  at  Bay  d'Espoir,  138 
Lonisbnrg,  retreat  of  French  to,  108 
LoiHe,  R.  H.,  Primitive  Society,  cited,  83,  149 
Lynx  teeth  as  charms  among  Micmac-Montag- 
nais,  43 

McCloud,  George,  knowledge  of,  of  Beothuk,  69 
McDonald,  Frank,  at  Bay  d'Espoir,  138 
McEwan,  John,  acknowledgment  to,  94;  Guide's 
Prize  Storv,  cited,  151;  map  of  hunting  terri- 
tory by,  99,  106 

Magdalen  islands,  Micmac  voyages  to,  153 

Magic,  hunting,  in  Newfoundland,   126-127 

Main  river,  see  St  George's  river 

Maine,  aboriginal  culture  in,  13-15;  Penobscot 
of,  15,  155-156;  perforated  stones  in,  42; 
prehistoric  Algonkian  culture  in,  71;  wigwam- 
pits  in,  31 

Malagawatch,  Micmac  settlement  at,   107 


INDIAN    NOTES 


INDEX 


Malca'te,  at  Oldtown,  INIe.,  115;  cognate  Algon- 
kian  roots  in  language,  76;  term  for  Beothuk, 
16;  term  for  woman,  66;  totemic  emblem  of, 
97;  traditions  among,  concerning  Beothuk, 
16-17 
Mallcrv,  G.,   Picture-writing  of  the  American 

Indians,  cited,  96-98,   150 
Maple     splint     baskets,     Micmac-Montagnais, 

mainland  origin  of,  41 
Maps,  birch-bark,  ]\licmac,  17,  98-99,  142 
Marriage,  customs  among  Beothuk,  80;  customs 
among  JMicmac,  90,  92-93,  130-131;  of  Beo- 
thuk with  outsiders,  64-66;  of  Beothuk  with 
wolverene,   72-73;   of   Santu,   59-60 
Mary  March,  capture  of,  50-51,  53,  77-78 
Mary  March  brook,  Beothuk  site  on,  22;  capture 

of  Beothuk  on,  50,  77 
Mary  March's  point,  Beothuk  captured  at,  50; 

lookout-tree  on,  78-79 
Massey,  Miss,  on  IMicmac  maps,  98 
MaUic'ci'S  family,  at  Bay  d'Espoir,  138 
Matrilincalily,  theories  of,  84 
Mays,  G.  V.,  on  birch-bark  map,  17 
Ma'y^me'gu'ik,  Micmac  settlement  of,  121 
Meat,  gift  of,  to  Beothuk,  51-52 
Mechling,  W.  H.,  Malecite  Tales,  cited,  17,  72 
Meelpcgh   lake,   Montagnais   hunting    territory 

at,  139,  142 
Me'kue'isit,  Malecite  term  for  Beothuk,   17 
Memramcook,  a  INIicmac  chieftaincy,  95 
Meski'gliru.'i''ddn,   village-site   near   Seal   rocks, 

27,  139 
Metal,  fragments  on  Beothuk  sites,  21;  schooners 
robbed  for,  21.    See  Iron  Implements 


173 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


174 


BEOTHUKAND  MICMAC 


Meywe'dje'iva''gi',  Micmac  name  of  Red  Indian 
lake,  46,  139 

Meywe''dji'djik,  Micmac  term  for  Beothuk,  18 

MeytcC'djik,     Micmac-Montagnais     term     for 
Beothuk,  27 

Meywe'za'xsi't,  Micmac  name  for  Hodge's 
mountain,  48,  139 

Michel,  Matty,  at  Bay  d'Espoir,  138 

Micmac,  annual  ceremony  of,  120;  camp-site 
at  Red  Indian  point,  23-24;  chief  on  Prince 
Edward  island,  151-152;  culture,  Beothuk 
survivals  in,  24-25,  32-33,  44-46,  63,  69-70, 
75,  79;  culture,  comparative  study  of,  70; 
culture  survivals  of,  in  Newfoundland,  41-42, 
122;  Gluskap  myth  of,  145-149;  guide  to 
Beothuk  sites,  20;  hunting  territory  among, 
83-86;  hunting  territories  in  Cape  Breton 
island,  106-114;  hunting  territories  in  Nova 
Scotia,  86-106;  hunting  territories  in  Prince 
Edward  island,  114-117;  marriage  of  Santu 
with,  67-69;  marriages  of  Beothuk  with,  59, 
65-66;  migration  of,  to  Newfoundland,  25- 
27,  118-125;  place-names,  Beothuk  survivals 
in,  46-47;  place-names  in  Newfoundland, 
138-140;  totemic  emblem  of,  97;  traditions 
'  among,  concerning  Beothuk,  17-19,  71-74; 
vocabulary,  66;  weaving  among,  37-39; 
wigwam  among,  30-31.  See  Micmac-Mon- 
tagnais 

Micmac-Montagnais,  Cormack  among,  141-145; 
culture,  37;  culture,  Beothuk  survivals  in, 
29-30,  33-39,  44-46;  hunting  territories  in 
Newfoundland,  117-138;  traditions  concern- 
ing Beothuk  among,  21-22,  25-29,  46-54. 
See  Micmac;  Montagnais 


INDIAN    NOTES 


INDEX 


Middle    river,    Gluskap    kills    beaver    at,    147; 

Micmac  settlement  at,  107 
Migration,  Micmac,  eastward  trend  of,  136-137; 
IMicmac,  to  Xeu-foundland,  25-27,  118-125; 
^Montagnais,  to  Newfoundland,  118-127 
Millertonn,    Beothuk    traditions    from,    52-53; 
Mary    March's    point    at,    50;    Red    Indian 
point  near,  47 
Millerlown  Junction,  Beothuk  traditions  from, 

52,  54 
Minas  basin,  created  by  Gluskap,  147-148 
Mink,  absent  from  Newfoundland,  131 
Miramichi  Indians,  cross  emblem  of,  96 
Mistassini,  hunting  territory  among,  86 
Mitchell,  Matliru.',  hereditary  chieftaincy  of,  135 
Moccasins,  Beothuk,  17;  Beothuk  influence  on, 
35-37;   suspended  from  hoop,  31.     See  Boot- 
moccasin 
Moha-d'k,  Micmac  alliance  with,   107;   Santu's 

marriage  with,  59 
Moisie  river,  Montagnais  along,   18 
Montagnais,   cognate   Algonkian   roots   in  lan- 
guage. 760;  culture,  Beothuk  resemblances  to, 
11-12,  24-25,  44-46,  70;  culture,  survivals  of, 
in^Newfoundland,  33-36,  39,  41,   122,   126- 
127;  eating  of  bark  by,  45;  hunting  territory 
among,  85,  86;  in  Newfoundland,  Cormack 
among,  141-142;  migration  of,  to  Newfound- 
land, 118;  of  Labrador,  15-16,  48,  73;  tradi- 
tions among,  concerning  Beothuk,  18;  weav- 
ing   among,    38;    wigwam    of,    30-31.     See 
Micm  ac-M  ontagn  ais 
Moorehcad,  W.  K.,  Red  Paint  People,  cited,  13, 
71 


175 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


176 


B  E  O  T  H  U  K  A  N  D  M  I  C  AI  A  C 


Moose,  slaughter  of,  on  Prince  Edward  island, 

115 
Moose-skin     canoe-mat,     Gluskap's,     146-147; 

canoes,  33 
Morgan,  L.  H.,  on  social  evolution,  84 
Morris,  Reuben,  ^Micmac  chief,  12.S 
Moss,  winter  wigwams  chinked  with,  32 
Mulgrave  lake,  Siah's  hunting  territorj-  about, 

106 
Murder  of  Beothuk  by  ]\Iicmac,  28 
Muskrat,  in  totemic  emblem,  97 
Mulch,  J.  R.,  acknowledgment  to,  151 
Mylh,  totemic,  of  Penobscot,  87.     See  Legend 

Nails,  metal,  on  Beothuk  sites,  21 

Names,   Christian,   among  jSIicmac,    114.     See 

Tables 
Naskapi,  in  Newfoundland,   126-127;  timidity 

of,  48 
Needles    for    snowshoes,    ]Micmac-]\lontagnais, 

39-40;    ^licmac    term    for,    76.     See    .4^:'/; 

Netting-needles 
Netting-needles,     ilicmac-Montagnais,     39-40. 


See  Needles 
New  Brunswick, 
chiefs  in,  114; 
migration    of 


Malecite  of,   16-17;   IMicmac 
]\Iicmac  place-names  in,  140; 

___^ Micmac    from,    108;    relative 

standing  of  bands  in,  137;  Santu  in,  59 
Newell,  Joe  and  Tom,  Fair}^  Holes  visited  b}'.  156 
New  England,  coast,  aboriginal  culture  of,  13-15; 

Santu  in,  59-60 
Newfoundland,    Beothuk    remains    in,     11-54; 
Beothuk  tradition  in,  72-73;  material  culture 
of,  29-44;  :\Iicmac  migration  to,  155;  ificmac 
of,  86-87;  Micmac  place-names  in,  138-140; 


INDIAN    NOTES 


I  N  L)  E  X 


^licmac-Montagnais    hunting    territories    in, 
117-138;  ^licmac-Montagnais  of,  25;  v33-43, 
86-87;  ^lontagnais  of,  16;  tenure  of  hunting 
territories  in,   109 
Xeuifomidlaiid  band,  see  M !c»iac-M onla i;>!a i .s 
Xorlheastern  culture,  implements  characteristic 

of,  40 
North  Pole,  Gluskap  residing  beyond,  149 
Nova  Scotia,  Gluskap  legend  in,  147-149,  156 
]\Iicmac  canoes  of,  3i;  Micmac  hunting  terri 
tories  in,  86-106;  Micmac  place-names  in,  140 
migration  of  Micmac  from,   108;  porcupine- 
quills  exported  from,  41-42;  Santu  in,  59,  65 
size  of  hunting  territory  in,  136-137;  tradi- 
tions concerning  Beothuk  in,  71-72 
Noya'mkisk,    Xewfoundland,    ]\Iicmac    settle- 
ment of,  121 
Niidjo'yn,  village-site  on  St  George's  ba}-,  27 

Ocher,  see  Red  oclier 

Ojibwa,  hunting  territorj'  among,  85-87 

Oldtown,  Elaine,  Indian  band  at,  115 

Orchard,  If.  C,  Xotes  on   Penobscot  Houses, 

cited,  74 
Osag9ne''u'i'ak,  Penobscot  term  for  Red  Indians, 

15-16 
Osa'yan'ax,    Micmac    term    for    Beothuk    or 

Montagnais,  16,  18,  56,  60,  65-67 
Ottawa,  ethnological  collection  in,  18-19 
Otter,  in  totemic  emblem,  97 
Otter-skin,    Beothuk    clothing   lined    with,    43; 

wool  from,  37 

Pacifique,  Father,  on  Micmac  place-names,  95 
Pack-straps,  weaving  of  Micmac,  37 


17' 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


178 


BEOTHUK  AND  MICMAC 


Paddle,  Gluskap's,  147-148;  in  totemic  emblem, 
97 

Painting,  coats  of  Beothuk  decorated  uath,  43; 
colored  designs  in  place  of,  39;  of  caribou- 
skin  coats,  34-35.     See  Color;  Dyeing 

Paliser,  Gov.,  Micmac  migration  limited  by,  155 

Passamaqnoddy,  derivation  of  term,  150;  emblem 
of,  96-97;  hostility  of,  to  JNIohawk,  73;  tra- 
ditions  among,   concerning   Beothuk,    72-73 

Palrilinealiiy,  among  Algonkian,  84-86 

Pattern,  in  weaving,  Micmac-Montagnais,  38 

Patterson,  on  Beothuk  terms,  67 

Paul  family,  at  Bay  d'Espoir,  138;  hunting 
territories  of,   128 

Paul,  Frank,  on  crossing  of  Cabot  strait,  120 

Paul,  Gahe,  acknowledgment  to,  115 

Paul,  John,  acknowledgment  to,  24,  78; 
acquaintance  of,  with  Santu,  68-69;  irregular 
tenure  of,  135-136;  on  Buchan's  expedition, 
49-51;  on  Micmac  dress,  34;  on  Micmac 
place-names  in  Newfoundland,  124;  on  Mon- 
tagnais  hunters  in  Newfoundland,  126-127; 
on  relations  between  Beothuk  and  Micmac, 
51;  on  separation  of  Beothuk  from  Micmac, 
27-29 

Penobscot,  alleged  animal  ancestry  among,  85; 
at  Oldtown,  Me.,  115;  boundary  signs  among, 
94;  cognate  Algonkian  roots  in  language  of, 
76;  hoop  in  wigwam  construction  of,  31 ;  hunt- 
ing territory  of,  86;  Micmac  term  for,  155- 
156;  perforated  stones  among,  42;  term  for 
living  creature,  66;  totemic  emblem  of,  97; 
traditions  among,  concerning  Beothuk,  15- 
16 
Penobscot  river,  wigwam-pits  along,  31 


IN  D.  IAN    NOTES 


INDEX 


Perforated  stones,  among  i\Iicmac-]Montagnais, 

42-43 
Perseciitiou,  see  Extermination 
Peyton,  John,  Beothuk  vocabulary  of,  67;  expe- 
dition  of,   against   Beothuk,   50-51,   53;   on 

Buchan's  expedition,  78 
Pictography  of  Wabanaki,  96-98 
Pictou,  a  Micmac  chieftaincy,  95;  Gluskap  at, 

148 

Pigments,  see  Painting 
Pine-hark,  red  dj-e  derived  from,  36-37 
Pinus  halsamifera,  bark  of,  as  food,  45 
Pipes,  improvised,  of  Micmac-Montagnais,  41; 

stone,  of  Beothuk,  62; 
Pitcher-plant,  leaf  of,  used  as  pipe  by  IMicmac- 

Montagnais,  41 
Pits,  see  Wigwam -pi Is 
Place-names,     Beothuk     survivals    in,     46-47; 

Micmac,    in    Newfoundland,    26,     123-124, 

138-140;   Micmac,   in   Nova   Scotia,   94-95; 

^Micmac,  on  Cape  Breton  island,  114;  Montag- 

nais,  85;  of  hunting  districts,  113.     See  Tables 
Plains,  wigwam  construction  tj'pical  of,  31 
Plaster  cove,  Gluskap  at,  146 
Poles,  in  totemic  emblem,  97 
Pollock,  in  totemic  emblem,  97 
Poplar,  edible  rind*of,  77 
Porcupine,  not  native  to  Newfoundland,  41-42, 

131 
Porpoise,  hunting  of,  154 
Port  Blandford,  Micmac  settlement  at,  137 
Portneuf  river,  survey  of  hunting  territories  to, 

85 
Post,  loom  attached  to,  37-38;  posts,  of  winter 

wigwam,  32 


179 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


180 


BEOTHUK  AND  MICMAC 


Pot,  Gluskap's,  148 

Pottery,  absence  of,  among  Beothuk,  44 

Pouch,  Micmac  term  for,  75.     See  Bags 

Powell,  J.  W.,  on  Beothuk  language,  11 

Pre-Algonkian  culture  in  Maine,  13-15 

Prince  Edward  island,  French  governor  of,  144; 

Micmac    chiefs    in,    114,    151-152;    Micmac 

hunting  territories  in,  114-117 
Prince,    J.    D.,    Passamaquoddy    Documents, 

cited,  73,  154 
Propliecv  of  Gluskap,    148-149 
Pidlet,  Ned,  at  Bay  d'Espoir,  138 
Punishment,  washing  as,  64 

Quarrel  between  Beothuk  and  Micmac,  legend 

of,  122,  154 
Quebec,  Micmac  at  battle  of,   108;   survey  of 

hunting  territories  in,  85 
Quilkvork  of  Micmac,  41-42 

Rabbit  -wool,  weaving  of,  37-39 
Raccoon,  absent  from  Newfoundland,  131 
Rand,  S.  T.,  Legends  of  the  Micmac,  cited,  98, 
151,     154-155;    Micmac    Dictionary,    cited, 
72-76;  Micmac  place-names  recorded  by,  140, 
156 
Rasles,  Father,  letter  to,  cited,  154 
Red,  and  black,  checkerwork  in,  34;  bags,  dyed, 
39;  body  dyed,  among  Beothuk,  15,  17,  43, 
51,   57,  63-64,   72-73;   boots  and  moccasins 
dyed,  36;  clay  on  Exploits  river,  51;  leather 
dyed,  122 
Red  Indian  falls,  caribou  fence  above,  20 
Red  Indian  lake,  Beothuk  ceremony  at,  62-64; 
Beothuk  sites  on,  12,  19,  44-51,  142;  hunt- 


INDIAN    NOTES 


INDEX 


ing  territories  around,  129;  Mary  March's  cap- 
ture at,  77-78;  ilicmac  name  for,  46,  139; 
Santu  born  near,  56,  58 

Red  Indian  point,  a  Beothuk  site,  22-24,  46-47; 
capture  of  Beothuk  at,  49-51 

Red  Indians,  16.     See  Beothuk 

Red  island,  creation  of,  by  Gluskap,  147 

Red  oclier,  seams  of  coats  smeared  with,  34-35; 
use  of,  by  Beothuk,  13,  72-73 

Red  Pond,  see  Red  Indian  lake 

Red  root,  bodies  of  Beothuk  dyed  with,  63-64; 
of  Red  Indian  lake,  58 

Red-ilillou'  bark,  smoking  of,  by  JMicmac-^Ion- 
tagnais,  41 

Restigoiiche,  a  IMicmac  chieftaincy,  95;  salmon 
emblem  of,  96 

Rivers,  W.  II.  R.,  use-totem  discussed  by,  85 

Roasting  of  meat,  Beothuk,  62 

Robberies  committed  by  Beothuk,  21,  53 

Rocks,  creation  of,  by  Gluskap,  146-148 

Rushy  pond,  Buchan  at  49 

Sable,  absent  from  Newfoundland,  131 

St  Ann's  day,  Micmac  celebration  of,  120 

St  Croix  river,  Micmac  name  for,  140 

St  Francis  Abnaki,  Micmac  term  for,  155 

St  Georges  Bay,  Beothuk  village  at,  118 

St  Georges  bay,  grant  on,  to  IMicmac,  124-125; 

Micijiac  place-names  on,    138-139;   ^Micmac 

settlements  on,  27,  118,  121-122,  137;  Mon- 

tagnais  hunting  on,  142 
St  Georges  harbor,  Cormack  at,    145;    ^Micmac 

band  at,  143 
Si  George's  river,  formerly  called  Main  river,  28 
Si  Johns,  N.  B.,  canoe  voyage  to,  154 


181 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


182 


BEOTHUKAND  IVIICMAC 


St  Johns,  Newfoundland,  Marv  ^March  captive 

at,  50-51,  78;  visit  with  HowW  at,  55 
Si  Lawrence  river,  JNIontagnais  north  of,  16,   137; 

Montagnais  of,  18;  remains  along  lower,  71; 

sur\'ey  of  hunting  territories  to,   85;   tribes 

bordering,  Beothuk  resemblance  to,  45 
St  Mary's  bay  in  St  Lawrence,  IMicmac  name  for, 

140 
St  Patrick's  bay,  Gluskap  at,  147 
St  Paul's  island,  Micmac  voyages  to,    119-120 
St  Peter's  channel,  Gluskap's  pursuit  of   beaver 

through,  147 
Salmon,  emblem    of    Restigouche    Indians,    96 
Sandv  point,  Micmac-Beothuk  site  near,  27-28 
Santii,  Beothuk  descent  of,  24,  55-60,  67-69; 

information  given  bv,  16,  60-67;  veracity  of, 

79 
Sapir,  Edward,  acknowledgm.ent  to,  19 
Sapir,  J.  D.,  acknowledgment  to,  67 
Sark,  John,  chief  of  Prince  Edward  Island  band, 

151-152 
Sarracena  purpurea,  see  Pitcher  plant 
Sa'yewe'djki'k,  or  ancients,  of  Newfoundland, 

26,  123-124 
Schooner,  dismantling  of,  by  Beothuk,  21,  53; 

French,   Micmac   voyaging  on,   121;   Indian 

voyages  on,  26-27 
Sealing,  in  Newfoundland,  131;  Micmac-INIon- 

tagnais  harpoons  for,  40 
Seal  rocks,  Beothuk  and  Micmac  site  near,  27 
Sealskin,  canoes,  60;  coats,  Micmac  origin  of, 

34;  moccasin,  36 
Sea  ■mammals,  Beothuk  food,  61-62 
Settlements,  see  Village 


INDIAN    NOTES 


INDEX 


Seicnng  of  Beothuk  canoe,  60;  on  bark  recep- 
tacles, 76 

Ship,  see  Schooner 

Ship  harbor,  ISricmac  place-name  in,  140 

Shipicrcck,  Beothuk  assistance  at,  64 

Shiiboiacadic,  a  ]Micmac  village,  93,  95 

Siah,  Solomon,  map  belonging  lo,  99,  106 

Sigunikt,  see  Slniheuacadie 

Silk,  embroiderv  in  ^Montagnais,  39 

Sites,  Beothuk,  12,  19-25;  Beothuk  and  :Micmac, 
at  St  Georges  bay,  27-29.  See  Camp-sites; 
Village;  Wigwam-pits 

Skin,  bags  in  Newfoundland,  39;  canoes,  Beo- 
thuk, 33,  60-61,  74 

Skunk  absent  from  Newfoundland,  131 

Slate,  lance-heads,  pre-Algonkian,  13-14 

SmethursI,  Gamaliel,  Narrative  of  an  Extraor- 
dinary Escape,  cited,  151 

Smith's  lake,  N.  S.,  hunting  territories  at,  151 

Smoking  among  Beothuk,  41,  62 

Sno'd'shoe,  Beothuk,  75;  Micmac-Montagnais 
type  of,  39 

Social  organization  of  Beothuk,  15.  See 
Hunting  territory    . 

Song  of  Santu,  67-68 

Spear,  ]\Iicmac  term  for,  76 

Speck,  F.  G.,  Ancient  Archeological  Site  on  the 
Lower  St  Lawrence,  cited,  71;  Decorative 
Art  and  Basketry  of  the  Cherokee,  cited,  76; 
Double  Curve  Motive  in  Northeastern 
Algonkian  Art,  cited,  75 

Spinning,  among  Micmac,  37 

Splint  basketry,  distribution  of,  76;  Micmac- 
Montagnais,  41 

Split  point,  Gluskap  kills  beaver  at,  147-148 


183 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


184 


BEOTHUKAND  MICMAC 


Spruce,  keelson  of,  79;  Mary  March's,  78-79. 
See  Lookout-tree 

Spruce-bark,  Beothuk,  canoe  stiffened  with,  60; 
red  dye  derived  from,  36-37 

Stain,  see  Dyeing 

Starvation  of  Beothuk,  48.     See  Extermination 

Sicvensville,  Beothuk-Micmac  settlement  near, 
27,  121-122 

Stone  age,  Beothuk  culture  of,  21;  implements, 
absence  of  pre-AIgonkian,  13;  implements, 
collection  of,  43-44;  implements  on  Beothuk 
sites,  24;  pipes  of  Beothuk,  62.  See  Chips; 
Implements;  Slate 

Stones,  see  Perforated  stones 

Straits  of  Belle  Isle,  Montagnais  crossing,  126; 
Montagnais  near,  18 

Sydney,  Micmac  chief  at,  131;  Micmac  settle- 
ment at,  107 

Sylvester,  Joseph,  guide  to  Cormack,  141, 

Table  Head,  Gluskap  dines  at,  147 

Tables  of  Micmac  hunting  territories,  100-105, 
110-112,  116,  132-134 

Taboo  concerning  black  .weasel,  28;  tabooed 
animal,  killing  of,  122 

Tanning,  among  Beothuk,  43 

Ta'yamkuk',  Micmac  name  of  Newfoundland, 
119 

Tay' amkuyewa' X ,  Micmac  name  of  Newfound- 
land band,  119 

Teeth,  perforated,  among  Micmac-Montagnais, 
43 

Terra  Nova  river,  Micmac  place-names  on,  140 

Thwaites,  R.  G.,  edition  of  Jesuit  Relations, 
cited,   154 


INDIAN    NOTES 


INDEX 


Tides  created  by  Gluskap,  147-148 

Tinne,  reputed  relationship  of  Beothuk  to,  71 

Tiffi,  construction  of,  .31 

Tobacco,  improvised  pipe  for,  41 

Toggle,  ■Micmac-jMontagnais,  antler,  40 

Totiey,  Abram,  deep-sea  voyages  of,  154 

Toney,  Joe,  Santu's  son,  56,  60;  wanderings  of, 

79.     See  Saniu 
Tools,  metal  for,  21.     See  Implements 
Totemism,  absent  among  Micmac,  87;  absent 

among     Micmac-Montagnais,     113;     among 

Penobscot,  85;  significance  of,  95-98 
Traditions  concerning  Beothuk,   15-18,  21-22, 

25-29,  46-54,  71-74.     See  Legend 
Traps,  iron,  on  Beothuk  sites,  22;  Micmac,  in 

Newfoundland,  143 
Tribes,  see  Band 

Trousers,  caribou-skin,  Beothuk,  35,  43 
Tiick,  Mr,  on  death  of  ^Slary  March,  53 
Turtle,  Gluskap's  uncle,  148 
Turtle-eggs,  ^Micmac  gambling  phrase,  80 
Tuyu'e''gan  m9ni''guk',    Micmac    name    of    St 

Paul's  island,  119 
Tu'illingate,  Beothuk  encounter  near,  52 

Unama''gi,    Micmac    name    of    Cape    Breton 

island,  107 
Us'a'g9n.ik,  Malecite  term  for  Montagnais,  16 
Use-totem,    85;    among    Micmac,    97-98.     See 

Totemism 

Vaudreuil,  M.  de,  letter  of,  cited,  154 

Victoria    Museum,    ethnological    collection    of 

Newfoundland  in,  18-19 
Village,    Beothuk-Micmac,    118,    122-123;    t/V- 


185 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


186 


BEOTHUKAND  MICMAC 


lages,  Micmac,  in  Newfoundland,   118,  121- 
123,   137;  Micmac,  on  Cape  Breton  island, 
114 
Village-siles,  see  Siles 
Vocabulary,  Beothuk,  58,  66,  76 
Voyages,  of  Indians,  26,  28,  153-154 

Wahanaki,  absence  of  splint  basketry  among, 
41;  culture,  Beothuk  resemblances  to,  44-46, 
63;  dice-and-bowl  game  of,  79;  hostility 
of,  to  Iroquois,  29;  pictography  of,  96-98; 
skin  canoes  of,  oi;  winter  wigwams  of,  31-32, 
73-74 

Wampum,  Micmac  ceremonial  procedure  with, 
107 

Washing,  among  Beothuk,  64,  80 

Water  bucket,  cognate  terms  for,  76 

Weasel,  see  Black  weasel 

Weaving  among  IMicmac,  37-39 

Whitbourne,  Ricliard,  Discourse  on  the  Dis- 
covery of  Newfoundland,  cited,  76-77 

Whites,  beheaded  by  Beothuk,  50;  Gluskap's 
aid  against,  148-149;  relations  of,  with 
Beothuk,  49-54,  57,  64,  69,  77-78 

Whilnev,  Caspar,  on  caribou  in  Newfoundland, 
129 

Wigwam,  Beothuk,  birch-bark,  30-31,  73-74; 
Beothuk,  on  Hodge's  mountain,  48;  chief's, 
at  Red  Indian  i)oint,  78;  Micmac,  on  Cape 
Breton,  113-114.     See  Tipi 

Wigwam-pits,  distinctive  of  Beothuk,  13,  20-22. 
24r-25,  30-31,  40,  44 

Willoughby,  C.  C,  Prehistoric  Burial  Places  in 
Maine,  cited,  13,  71 


INDIAN    NOTES 


INDEX 


Wilson's  lake,  Newfoundland,  Alicmac  camp 
on,  144-145 

Winter  wig-d'ams  of  Beothuk,  31-32,  73-74 

Wolverene,  absent  from  Newfoundland,  131; 
marriage  of  Beothuk  with,  72-73 

Women,  peaked  caps  of,  35;  quillwork  of,  41-42 

Wood,  awl-handles  of,  39;  Beothuk  canoe 
framework  of,  60;  ^licmac-Montagnais  net- 
ting-needles of,  39-40;  spindle  of,  37 

Woodchuck,  absent  from  Newfoundland,  131 

Wool,  embroidery  in,  Montagnais,  9;  weaving 
of,  37-39 

Wreck,  see  Shipureck 

Wreck  cove,  Gluskap  at,  146 

Wycogamagh,  Gluskap  at,  147;  John  Joe  of, 
146;  -\Iicmac  settlement  at,  107 

Yarmouth  band,  voyages  of,  154 

Yarmontli,  N.  S.,  death  of  Santu  at,  79;  hunting 

territories  near,  92;  Santu  married  near,  59 
Yellow  thread,  yellow  pigment  from,  34 


187 


AND    MONOGRAPHS 


■IN 


HUNTING  TERRITORIES  OF  THE  MICMAC  INDIANS  IN  NOVA  SCOTIA 


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HUNTING  TERRITORIES  OFTHK  MICMAC  INDIANS  IX  PRINCE  EDWARD  ISLAND  AND  NEWFOUNDLAND 


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'•:  f^}-"^^^'''  REGiONAL  LIBRARY  FACILIT, 


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